BEMISIA-ARGENTIFOLII (HOMOPTERA, ALEYRODIDAE) DEVELOPMENT AND HONEYDEW PRODUCTION AS A FUNCTION OF COTTON NITROGEN STATUS

In a greenhouse experiment we documented the effects of low, medium, and high nitrogen in cotton on development and honeydew production by the whitefly, Bemisia argentifolii Bellows and Perring. Nitrogen status of cotton plants was manipulated by irrigation with 0.5, 2.5, or 5.0 mmol/liter nitrogen fertilizers. Although the fertilization treatments produced large differences in plant growth, subtle differences were found in whitefly development. No differences among treatments were found in stage-specific survival or the time whiteflies spent in each stadium. Time to adult emergence by whiteflies increased with decreasing nitrogen fertilization. Although early-instar whiteflies on high nitrogen plants initiated the production of honeydew droplets before whiteflies on medium and low nitrogen treatments, they subsequently generated fewer droplets through 24 h periods.