common name: ash whitefly
scientific name: Siphoninus phillyreae (Haliday) (Insecta: Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae:
Aleyrodinae)
Ash whitefly, Siphoninus phillyreae, was described as Aleyrodes phillyreae by Haliday (1835),
on Phillyrea latifolia collected in Dublin, Ireland. It has several synonyms listed in Mound
and Halsey (1978). In the United States, S. phillyreae was first collected in Los Angeles
County, California in 1988, and has since spread to Kern, Orange, Riverside, Sacramento, San
Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Stanislaus, Tulare and Ventura counties.
Most ash whiteflies in California were found on pomegranate, ash tree, pear, apple, loquat and
citrus. It causes severe damage to pear and apple in Europe. Heavy infestations caused leaf
wilt, early leaf drop and smaller fruit (Bellows et al. 1990). If this whitefly is introduced into
Florida we expect it to become a pest of ornamental plants and possibly other crops.
Siphoninus phillyreae, a Palaearctic species, is found in several countries, including: Austria,
Cameroon, Corsica, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Egypt, England, Ethiopia, France, Germany,
India, Iran, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Libya, Morocco, Pakistan, Poland, Romania,
Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sudan, Syria, Switzerland, Yugoslavia, and United States (Arizona,
California and Nevada) (Mound and Halsey 1978; Bellows et al. 1990; Raymond Gill,
personal communication; Chris Baptista, personal communication).
On first observation the pupal case will appear similar to the white male armor of a snow
scale. Closer observation with a hand lens will reveal a whitefly pupal case with two
longitudinal tufts of white wax. The vasiform orifice is surrounded by dark brown derm, with
the anal area appearing as a dark brown spot. Lateral areas of the pupal case are light beige.
Depending on the age, lesser or greater amounts of white wax will be present. The dorsal
surface has 40 to 50 long glassy tubercles similar to the cornicles found on aphids. These
tubercular structures produce a droplet of glassy wax and this gives the pupal case an unusual
appearance. The longitudinal white tufts of wax obscure some glassy tubercles (R.J. Gill,
personal communication). The pupal case size is 0.8 to 1.0 mm long by 0.55 to 0.7 mm wide
(Mound 1966). The adult appears much like a typical whitefly with a light dusting of white
wax.
appearance on host
waxy droplets
adult
Siphoninus phillyreae is a polyphagous species and is found on several plant families, (modified from Bellows et al. 1990)
including:
- Bignoniaceae: Catalpa X chilopsis, catalpa hybrid
- Leguminosae: Afzelia sp., pod mahogany; Cercis occidentalis, western redbud; C.
siliquastrum, Judas tree
- Lythraceae: Lagerstroemia indica, crape myrtle
- Magnoliaceae: Liriodendron tulipifera, tulip tree; Magnolia stellata, star magnolia
- Oleaceae: Fraxinus excelsior, European ash; F. latifolia, Oregon ash; F. ornus, flowering ash; F. syriaca, Serian ash; F. uhdei, Shamel ash; F. uhdei 'Tomlinson', Tomlinson ash; F. velutina 'Modesto', Modesto ash; F. velutina var. glabra, Arizona ash; F. velutina var. coriacea, western ash; Ligustrum spp., privets; Olea africana (=Olea chrysophylla), wild olive; O. europaea, common olive; Phillyrea latifolia (=Phillyrea media), a phillyrea; Syringa X hyacinthiflora, a common lilac; S. laciniata, cut-leaf lilac; S. vulgaris, common lilac
- Punicaceae: Punica granatum, pomegranate
- Rhamnaceae: Rhamnus alaternus, buckthorn; Ziziphus spina-christi, crown of thorns
- Rosaceae: Amelanchier denticulata, serviceberry; Chaenomeles X speciosa, flowering quince; Crataegus mollis, hawthorn; C. monogyna, English hawthorn; C. laevigata (=C. oxyacantha), hawthorn; Cydonia oblonga, quince; Eriobotrya deflexa, golden loquat; Heteromeles arbutifolia, California Christmas berry; Malus domestica, apple; M. floribunda, Japanese flowering crab; M. fusca, Oregon crabapple; Malus 'Hopa', a crabapple; Malus 'Red Jade', a crabapple; Malus X scheideckeri, Scheidecker crabapple; Mespilus sp., mespilus; Prunus armeniaca, apricot; P. X blireiana, blue plum hybrid; P. persica, peach; P. salicina, Santa Rosa plum; P. virginiana var. melanocarpa, choke cherry; Pyracantha sp., pyracantha; Pyrus calleryana, ornamental pear; P. communis (=P. sativa), pear; P. kawakamii, flowering pear; P. pyrifolia, Japanese sand pear
- Rubiaceae: Cephalanthus occidentalis var. californicus, buttonbush
Rutaceae: Citrus sp., tangerine; C. limon, lemon; C. sinensis, navel orange; C. sinensis, Valencia orange; Fortunella sp., kumquat.
Ash whitefly has the potential to become a serious pest in new environs. However, it has
several natural enemies that can control its populations to under economic thresholds. These
natural enemies include (Mound and Halsey 1978, Bellows et al. 1990, Viggiani and
Mazzone 1980, Viggiani and Battaglia 1983):
- Predators: Clitostethus arcuatus (Rossi), Menochilus sp., and Scymnus pallidivestis
Mulsant.
- Parasites: Coccophagus eleaphilus Silvestri, Encarsia gautieri (Mercet), Encarsia
inaron (Walker), Encarsia partenopea Masi, Encarsia siphonini Silvestri, Encarsia
pseudopartenopea Viggiani and Mazzone; Eretmocerus siphonini Viggiani and Battaglia, and
Eretmocerus corni Haldeman.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture has imported Encarsia sp. from Israel and
Italy, and the coccinellid beetle Clitostethus arcuatus for the control of ash whitefly in
California (Bellows et al. 1990).
- Bellows TS, Paine TD, Arakawa KY, Meisenbacher C, Leddy P, Kabashimo J. 1990. Biological control sought for ash whitefly. California Agriculture 44: 4-6.
- Evans GA, Hamon AB. (5 November 2002). Whitefly taxonomic and ecological Web site: an on-line interactive catalog of the whiteflies (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) of the world and their parasites and predators.
http://www.fsca-dpi.org/homoptera_hemiptera/Whitefly/whitefly_catalog.htm (13 November 2002).
- Haliday AH. 1835. Aleyrodes phillyreae. Entomology Magazine 2: 119-120.
- Mound LA. 1966. A revision of the British Aleyrodidae (Hemiptera: Homoptera). Bulletin of the British Museum of National History, Entomolgy 17: 419-420.
- Mound LA, Halsey SH. 1978. Whitefly of the World. A Systematic Catalogue of the Aleyrodidae (Homoptera) with Host Plant and Natural Enemy Data. British Museum of Natural History) and John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY. p. 192-193.
- Viggiani G, Mazzone P. 1980. Encarsia pseudopartenopea n.sp., parassita di Siphoninus phillyreae (Haliday) (Hom. Aleyrodidae). Bollettino el Laboratorio di Entomologia Agraria 'Filippo Silvestri' 37: 9-12.
- Viggiani G, Battaglia D. 1983. Le specie italiane del genere Eretmocerus Hald. (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae). Bolletino del Laboratorio di Entomologia Agraria 'Filippo Silvestri' 40: 97-101.
Authors: Ru Nguyen and Avas B. Hamon (retired), Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry.
Originally published as DPI Entomology Circular 337.
Photographs: C.H. Webb, Division of Plant Industry
Project Coordinator: Thomas R. Fasulo, University of Florida
Publication Number: EENY-147
Publication Date: August 2000. Latest revision: November 2002.
Copyright 2000 University of Florida
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