The Christmas dispersal of Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) in New Zealand

Abstract

In 2006 Bemisia tabaci biotype Q was identified in New Zealand The Christmas trade in poinsettias is implicated in the recent rapid dispersal of B tabaci biotype Q through North America Retail outlets were surveyed during December 2006 and 2007 to investigate whether this may be a pathway for dispersal in New Zealand A PCRbased diagnostic tool confirmed the presence of B tabaci biotype Q on poinsettias purchased in both Christchurch and Auckland However results indicated that abundance varied between the regions years and propagation nurseries In 2006 169 and three adult whitefly were collected from a selection of retail outlets in Christchurch and Auckland respectively compared with 256 and 56 in 2007 Only B tabaci biotype Q was identified from the samples collected from Christchurch with B tabaci biotype Q and relatively few Trialeurodes vaporariorum identified from the Auckland samples