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Title: DETERMINATION OF STYLET LENGTH AND THE EXTENT OF STYLET PENETRATION FOR SILVERLEAF WHITEFLIES

Author
item FREEMAN, THOMAS - NDSU, FARGO, ND
item NELSON, DENNIS
item BUCKNER, JAMES
item CHU, CHANG CHI
item HENNEBERRY, THOMAS

Submitted to: Sweetpotato Whitefly Progress Review Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/1/2000
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Using light and electron microscopy we have determined that the adult Bemisia argentifolii Bellows & Perring (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) stylet lengths are considerably longer than have been previously reported. Adult whitefly stylets range from 100 #m to over 300 um in length. Stylet penetration was determined by rapidly killing and fixing feeding silverleaf fwhiteflies in acidified DMP (2,2-dimethoxypropane) and then removing them from the leaves and measuring the stylet extended beyond the distal tip of the labium. The portion of the stylet extended into the leaf ranged from 43 #m to over 150 #m with a mean penetration of 90 um. Using the same technique to kill and fix nymphs feeding on leaves we found their stylets to also be considerably longer than previously reported. Stylet lengths were found to be shorter in crawlers than in 4th instar nymphs. Crawler stylets measured as long as 113 um whereas some 4th instar nymphs had stylets over 200 um long. With stylets of these lengths and the arrangement of minor veins in cotton leaves, both adults and nymphs may be able to reach phloem tissue from almost any point on the abaxial epidermis of the youngest expanding leaves or even leaves located at nodes 7-15 below the apex. Thus, stylet length and phloem depth may not be a determining factor in successful whitefly feeding.