Comparative study of the five biological parameters of cotton whitefly Bemisia tabaci and silverleaf whitefly B. argentifolii bellows and perring reared on cotton under laboratory condition.

The five biological parameters of sweetpotato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Genn.) and silverleaf whitefly Bemisia argentifolii Bellows and Perring (Hom: Aleyrodidae) as an important pest of cotton were compared on cotton in laboratory condition. The infested leaves containing nymphs and pupae were collected from cotton fields in Iran. Experiments were conducted in a growth chamber under 24+/-2 degrees C, 55+/-3% RH and 16:8 (L:D) photoperiod on cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L. The newly emerged populations of each species were released in to a large cage set on cotton plants, separately. In this investigation, total fecundity, oviposition period, adult's longevity, sex ratios and daily fertility rates of 50 mated females were calculated for each whitefly used 50 mated females for each treatment. The treatments included two whitefly species and one host plant i.e. Gossypium hirsutum L. (Varamin 76 variety). Emergence of adults and crawlers and percentages of females emerged from 100-200 eggs at four replications were also calculated. The results revealed that total fecundity, oviposition period, and developmental time for B. tabaci reared on gossipium were 65.25, 4.56, and 23.18, respectively and for B. argentifolii reared on gossipium were 97.06, 5.42, and 23.75, respectively. The results revealed that there are significant differences between parameter of total fecundity at 1%. Probability level and sex ratios at 5% probability level. No significant difference was found between oviposition period, developmental time and maximum adult's longevity at 5% probability level.