Occurrence of Bondar’s Nesting Whitefly, Paraleyrodes bondari (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), on cassava in Uganda

Abstract
Cassava is a valued calorific source to millions of Africans who eat it daily and a vital staple for their food security. One of the key constraints to this crop is white flies which are both a vector of viral diseases and a direct pest. Although the African cassava white fly is known to cause physical damage on cassava with considerable tuberous yield loss, a recent white fly outbreak caused unusually severe damage, which prompted the current reported investigation. Molecular identification of white fly adults sampled from the affected cassava field revealed the presence of a new white fly species, Paraleyrodes bondari. This communication is the first report of the occurrence of P. bondari on cassava in Uganda.
Description
Keywords
East Africa, Invasive, Manihot, New pest, Food security
Citation
Omongo, C. A., Namuddu, A., Okao-Okuja, G., Alicai, T., van Brunschot, S., Ouvrard, D., & Colvin, J. (2018). Occurrence of Bondar's nesting whitefly, Paraleyrodes bondari (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), on cassava in Uganda. Revista Brasileira de entomologia, 62, 257-259. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rbe.2018.10.001