Bulletin 06>

A new whitefly species emerges as a pest of cereals in Central America

Until 2003, cereals were the only major food crops that had remained free from whitefly pests in Central America .

This year, a new whitefly species, identified as Aleurocybotus occiduus, caused total crop losses in rice and sorghum fields in N.W. El Salvador. This new whitefly pest has also been observed to colonize maize, the main food crop in the Americas. The DFID-CPP Tropical Whitefly Project has been providing technical assistance in El Salvador to manage the problem.