Author(s):
Mexia, António 
; Mateus, Célia ; Amaro, Fernanda ; Louro, Diamantina
Date: 2008
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/1040
Origin: Repositório da UTL
Subject(s): bemisia tabaci; vegetable crops; virus; horticolas
Description
In Portugal, Bemisia tabaci (Genn.)
(Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) was first recorded
in 1992, in horticultural crops. Since 1995, it
has been an important pest in the Algarve,
southern Portugal, where it is present the whole
year round, in greenhouse crops, with high
infestations during the summer. In 2006, it was
installed in Alentejo and in part of Ribatejo e Oeste region. It is a serious problem to several
vegetable crops, due to direct damages, but
mainly by transmitting plant viruses. The most
severely affected crops are greenhouse tomato
and cucurbits. IPM is considered the best way
to deal with the sustainable management of
this problem, but the presence of viruses
complicates the implementation of IPM
programs. The work presented here gives an
overview of the results obtained by the
research activities carried out in Portugal
concerning B. tabaci: geographical distribution,
bioecology, biotypes identification, virus
transmission, risk assessment, natural
enemies’ survey and control methods. Future
research work is suggested.
