spiral white fly???
i have seen them on the underside of my bananas..all of them,some on my palms and on my upland cotton..anyone eles seeing this bug out there???do they do much damage???best way to treat???thanks
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Re: spiral white fly???
BIG trouble!!!
To quote the Palm Beach Post ---------------The Rugose spiraling whitefly is wreaking havoc throughout Palm Beach County, damaging landscape plants and trees and leaving a sticky excrement called honeydew and its accompanying sooty mold on patios, walkways, outdoor furniture and vehicles. This is the whole article with pic of banana leaf damage from our new pest. Whiteflies hit Palm Beach County homeowners’ trees, plants, pools | www.palmbeachpost.com What the south Florida locals are saying. Aggressive White Flies here: Rugose spiraling whitefly |
Re: spiral white fly???
With us having a mild winter up here last year I hope that don't drift up here w/ all the plants getting shipped from down yonder. :^)
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Re: spiral white fly???
Although I would bet it is a different species here and so this may not apply, whenever I have seen spiraling white fly on my bananas, they have caused no real damage. Sometimes the area of the leaf they are on will get a little yellow, but overall, the plant is totally unaffected and continues to grow just fine. If it got to the point where they were completely colonizing the undersides of every leaf, that might cause a problem, but a couple small colonies here and there are not anything to worry about in my opinion.
Occasionally they can be problematic on young plants in the greenhouse though, and in those cases I have used ethanol and a paper towel to spray them and wipe them off with good results. |
Re: spiral white fly???
For those who don't want to use expensive systemics here is an organic approach. Eggs hatch Encarsia Formosa wasps that eat or parisitize the white flies. The parisitized flys will host the wasp eggs and a new Encarsia generation will attack the white flys. Check this out ----------------
Greenhouse Whitefly Parasite (Encarsia formosa) - 1,000 Would be great if something like this worked on squirrels. |
Re: spiral white fly???
Yo: Methinks, I would grab some local insecticide from Walmart or one of the big box stores and start knocking them down. Or try some Neem Oil in a Squirt Bottle, about 1/2 ounce in a 12-16 oz. bottle...use warm/hot water to mix! Neem is thick like pancake syrup, add a couple drops of dish soap as well, it works as a spreader!
Give'm Hell...Tom |
Re: spiral white fly???
Yo Bananimal: Go get a adult pellet rifle, in .17 or .22 caliber with a scope. I have been taking pots at them all damn year! They dig out my new seedlings, and plant nuts all over my yard, gardens and grow boxes. Then I have to dig them up when they sprout! We nailed a few last year and noticed a slight reduction in population this year. Also works for rats!
Quiet enough the neighbors won't hear ya and call the cops! :-o Tom |
Re: spiral white fly???
Hi Tom ---- for those folks that have squirrels out the whazoo the best way to go is KANIA!
Squirrel traps, mink traps, rat traps, and other small pest traps Traps real good, lasts a long time. |
Re: spiral white fly???
Sounds a nasty bug indeed,
I found this link but nothing from Wikipedia as yet.. Carol Cloud Bailey: New species of whitefly heading making its way to South Florida » TCPalm.com |
Re: spiral white fly???
I haven't seen any in the Glades, although my bananas generally have a rather robust natural predator population that keeps things under control.
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Re: spiral white fly???
How large is the gecko population in Florida?
On my farm the population is in the millions and it is rare to even see an insect on any surface during the day. If an insect is uncovered while I'm digging, it is gone in a few seconds. This might seem crazy to some people but I have many tanks for breeding maggots to ensure I mantain a large population. In some cases a free lunch can be a positive thing. I don't know much about white fly but if it can't get airborne in a fraction of a second it will be lunch. I have never seen a gecko catch a honeybee but they try and will chase them from flower to flower. |
Re: spiral white fly???
I have spiral white fly on my banana plants and today I applied Bayer FCV insecticide to eliminate this problem. This white fly seem to prefer avocado and banana plants. There is some infestation on mango but not much and none on papaya. Hopefully imidacloprid will not change the taste of the bananas.
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Re: spiral white fly???
Do you have any coconut palms or xmas palms? If so they will be toast. They are the number 1 and 2 go-to snack foods for the rugose spiriling white fly. If you do then yank them all out. They are bringing in the fly on your bananas. I don't see them yet. And I'm stuck with 4 mats of xmas palm which keep choking. Have to peel away oldest leaves before they fall off naturally the choking thing is so bad.
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Re: spiral white fly???
I am yet to shake the spiraling white fly in my back yard. I have tried various pesticides which end up being no better than detergent water solution. Ive given up and just let them live. I now see lots of small spiders and various bugs climbing all over the leaves hopefully keeping them under control. Good luck getting rid of them.
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Re: spiral white fly???
Professional exterminators have the only stuff and techniques that have some effect. For palms they drill holes in the trunk and inject a systemic insecticide. This has to be done repeatedly. Also expensive. I'll yank them out first.
I'm like Jon Pitangodiegeo is with grass regarding my ornamental palms. Replace them with cement --- or something that fruits. lol |
Re: spiral white fly???
I found that 1/2 cup cooking or mineral oil,tablespoon of dish soap,1 tablespoon diatomaceous earth,1 teaspoon cinnamon in a gallon and a half of water, it does not kill on contact but it does suffocate slowly and the fine dust left behind from the DE keeps them from coming back..also helps for leaf notcher,white weevil here in florida.. I spray 2wice a month
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Re: spiral white fly???
I spray insecticidal soap on plants infested with spiral white fly and it works for a short time and thereafter you must spray again. Insecticidal soap advantage is that it is nontoxic to other insects that may feed on white flys.
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