Whitefly parasites (for control of whiteflies)
Tiny
whitefly parasites (Encarsia formosa) lay their eggs
inside developing whitefly pupa, so one of their babies hatches
out instead of the whitefly! So small their flights are measured
in inches, not feet, you'11 probably not even see whitefly parasites
(except with magnification), but they spell death for whiteflies.
For
fastest control, make 4 releases of parasites, spaced 2 weeks
apart for greenhouse whitefly. If you have sweet-potato whitefly
(page 5), continue with releases every 2 weeks until control
is reached. 1000 whitefly parasites is enough for a 1000 square
foot greenhouse with a low-level infestation (a few whiteflies
per plant).
Encarsa
formosa come packaged ready to hatch, glued to small cards.
The perforated cards are hung from plant foliage, and parasites
emerge as adults within 2 weeks. Then they fly off, and begin
looking for more whitefly pupae to parasitize.
Since
they're so tiny, how do you know they're working? With greenhouse
whitefly, within 10 days the parasitized pupa turns totally
jet-black in color, instead of its normal clearish- green color.
With sweet-potato whitefly the pupa turns only slightly yellowish,
but after 2 or 3 weeks the "emergence hole" can be
seen in both cases when the adult parasite chews his way out
(16X magnifier required).
Parasites
work best when temperatures average at least 68'F. (add daytime
~ nighttime temperatures, divide by 2), Lower temperatures than
these will require more frequent releases, at least monthly.