‘Banker’ Plant Production of Encarsia formosa Gahan and its Use in the Control of Glasshouse Whitefly on Tomatoes

Abstract

SUMMARY‘Banker’ plants on which a whitefly/parasite interaction had been well established successfully controlled glasshouse whitefly (Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westw.)) when introduced on to a commercial tomato crop at rates of 89 or 50 plants per hectare. Each plant produced about 8000 parasites over a minimum period of eight weeks and the presence of whiteflies and honeydew on these plants provided the adult parasites with a source of food during the early stages of the infestation. The principal advantages of the ‘banker’ system over existing methods in which parasites are introduced on detached leaf material are the ease of rearing the parasites and the need for only a single introduction to the glasshouse.