A New Whitefly in the Neighborhood

A new whitefly that hasn't been on the continent of the US before has now showed up in Polk County.  On October 10, 2016, Division of Plant Industry inspector Laura Ureta-Cooper submitted whiteflies she found in Polk county.  That was the first detection in the Continental US of a new whitefly.   Approximately one month later, another and totally independent sample was submitted by Phil McDonald of Island Environmental Pest Control, Inc. from Palm Beach County.  That sample also turned out to be what is referred to in the Pest Alert as Aleurotrachelus near anonae.
The host range listed in the literature includes Anona squamosa (Annonaceae), Morus indica (Moraceae) and Zingiber sp. (Zingiberaceae).  In Florida, this whitefly has also been found on banana and avocado.  Only two counties have been reported as positive for this whitefly: Polk and Palm Beach.

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry has posted an alert on their website.  You can download a copy from this web link:  http://www.freshfromflorida.com/content/download/72797/1916960/Pest_Alert_-_Aleurotrachelus_near_anonae_Corbett,_Whitefly.pdf