INTRODUCTION-Click here to return to Introduction

      Aleyrodidae: key to stages and subfamilies   

    Aleurodicinae: key to genera     Aleurodicinae: species list     Aleurodicus: key to species    

Aleuronudus: key to species   Dialeurodicus: key to species   Metaleurodicus: key to species  Paraleyrodes: key to species 

Aleyrodinae: key to genera     Aleyrodinae: species list

 Dialeurodes etc.:  the Dialeurodini & similar genera (Dialeurodes, Massilieurodes, Rusostigma, Singhiella, Tegmaleurodes)

Aleyrodine Genera with dorsal folds:  Acaudaleyrodes, Aleurolobus,  Aleurocerus, Aleuroclava (in part),  Aleurothrixus, Aleurotrachelus, Aleurotuba, Asialeyrodes,  Cockerelliella, Crenidorsum, Paraleurolobus, Tetraleurodes

Trialeurodes etc.: the Trialeurodini & similar genera (Aleuroparadoxus, Aleurotithius, Orchamoplatus, Trialeurodes, Trialeurolonga, Venezaleyrodes)

Host list (Excel format)   Host list (Htm format)  Host List by Pest Glossary   Bibliography 

Whitefly Website      Aleyrodid Training Workshop 2006 (PDF)   Slide Making Training Module (PDF)  

                Banana Pests (PDF)      Trialeurodes Species (PDF)   Pupae intercepted in quarantine (PDF)

 

    

INTRODUCTION:   Aleyrodidae (Hemiptera, Sternorrhyncha)

This identification tool will be based on the pupal stage only.

The official common name for whiteflies refers to the powdery secretions that are produced in most of the adult species and the puparia for many species. The main structure  unique to the Aleyrodidae (found in all but the egg stage) is the presence of the vasiform orifice and contains the lingula and operculum.

Classification historically has based on the 4th immature stage, pupa, because the puparia are sessile and attach to the leaf structure making it much easier to collect making it easier to identify the host plant. The pupal stage has  more definitive morphological structures than the adult stages making it easier to separate the genera and species. However, some species (Bemisia tabaci Gennadius, and Trialeurodes spp. as examples) vary in these structures considerably do to their type of plant leaf cuticle whether hairy or smooth.  Currently,  the adult stage is providing traits that are specific to certain genera & species.  
Whiteflies comprise a single family, Aleyrodidae, within the Heteroptera order and  Sternorrhyncha suborder.  The suborder is comprised of four superfamilies: Aleyrodoidea with more than 1500 species [NHM, London], Aphidoidea  with more than 4800 species [Miller & BenDov, 2003],  Coccoidea with more than  7300 species [Remaudiere & Remaudiere, 1997], and Psylloidea with more than  2500 species [Martin & Hollis, 1992]. The family is comprised currently of two subfamilies: the Aleurodicinae and the Aleyrodinae. 
From the beginning of taxonomic entomology, the family Aleyrodidae have been poorly neglected. Perhaps the first  whitefly described was Aleyrodes proletella Linnaeus by Carolus Linnaeus (Carl Linne’) circa 1700’s in Sweden.  He was the father of our present day nomenclature system and completed the Systema Naturae in 1735.
Kirkaldy first catalogued  species representing the family Aleyrodidae (as Homoptera) in 1907. In the following year Quaintance provided a checklist  of those species (in 1908).    Kirkaldy catalogued 150 species in two genera whereas Quaintance referred to 156 species in three genera.    Quaintance and Baker  laid out the basis for the present generic classification in 1913 and 1914 dividing the group into three subfamilies: containing one, four and 18 genera respectively. 
As of 1978 with the publication of the Whitefly Catalogue by Mound & Halsey, large numbers have already been described by Takahashi in the Oriental Region, Bondar in the Neotropical Region (Brazil in 1923),  Cohic in the Ethiopian Region and others describing 1156 species in 126 genera. The most recent taxonomic works include:
  1. Aleyrodidae from Central America and  Colombia (Rafael Caballero, 1992 thesis).
  2. Whitefly Fauna of Australia (1999) by Drs. Laurence Mound (CSIRO, Australia) and Jon Martin (BMNH, UK)
  3.  Whiteflies of the Mediterranean Region (2000) by Dr. Jon Martin et Al..  
  4. The latest revision was published by Dr. Jon Martin redefining the Aleurodicinae  & the Aleyrodinae in Belize by Dr. Jon Martin, Zootaxa, part I (2004) & II (2005), naming 3 new genera 30 new species, 22 new combinations, and creating 15 new generic and specific synonyms.
Others with significant contributions to name a few include Dr. Louise Russell (S.E.L. retired), especially the Trialeurodini and the Aleurocerus groups,  Ben-Dov for the Middle East, David and Singh for the oriental region (including India), Kotinsky,  Misra, Corbett, and Dr. Antonio Aguiar, and Mr. Ray Gill ("The Provisional Key to the Adult Whiteflies of California", unpublished)                                                                                   

Special thanks to: 

Centre for Biological information Technology, The University of Queensland for developing the LUCID Program

Dr. Peter Gillespie (Insect Collection Manager,  NSW, Department Primary Industries, Australia), 

Dr. Terrence Walters (Lucid Coordinator,USDA, APHIS, PPQ/CPHST),   Dr. Chris Baptista (Az Ag. Dept.)

Ray Gill (CDFA, retired) &  Dr. Gillian Watson (CDFA),  Dr. Greg Evans (USDA, APHIS, PPQ),  

Dr. Jon Martin (NHM at London, UK),  Dr. Greg Hodges (DPI, Florida), 

Matt Taylor (Centre for Biological Information Technology (CBIT), Australia),   Rob Quartarone (PPQ-CPHST),  Charlotte Miller (WS-NWRC), 

 Dr. Bernaar Kumashiro (Hawaii Dept. of Agriculture),  Dr. Rafael Caballero (Az, University of Arixona, Tucson),  

Dr. Lawrence Mound (CSIRO, Australia)