MANAGING WHITEFLIES AND WHITEFLY-TRANSMITTED VIRUSES IN VEGETABLE CROPS IN THE SOUTHEASTERN U.S.

The overall objective of this project is to improve the management of whiteflies and whitefly-transmitted viruses in vegetable crops in Georgia and other southeastern states. The whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, causes global economic losses, including an epidemic by this pest and whitefly-transmitted viruses that severely impact vegetable and other crop production in the southeast United States. The rapid evolution of insecticide-resistance in whitefly populations makes it unsustainable to use chemical control. We will investigate whiteflies and whitefly-transmitted viruses in vegetable cropping systems from the perspective of an ecology-based integrated pest-plant virus management system.