Context: Recently, a team of entomologists assessed three indigenous bugs that can control the pest woolly whitefly. 

• These native predators for the natural control of the woolly whiteflies are found to be the biological weapons against the pest and have been reported to control the pest by devouring them.
• Two of these indigenous predators were ladybird beetles of the Coccinellidae family and one was the green lacewing fly from the Neuroptera order.

Issues

• According to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), pests damage 30-35% of crops in the country annually.
• Among the newest of the 118 exotic pests troubling farmers in India, particularly fruit growers, is the woolly whitefly.
• This whitefly (Aleurothrixus floccosus) is invasive and polyphagous, meaning a creature that feeds on various kinds of food.
• In 2019, ICAR’s National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources had reported the spread of woolly whiteflies through transportation of infested seedlings.

About Woolly Whitefly

• It was first described from Jamaica in 1896 and noticed in Florida, the U.S. in 1909.
• Its neo-tropical origin is found across the warmer parts of the world and also called citrus whitefly.
• This whitefly (Aleurothrixus floccosus) is invasive and polyphagous i.e. feeds on various kinds of food.
• ICAR’s National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources in Bengaluru had reported  the spread of the pest from the Caribbean island through transportation of infested seedlings  in 2019
• It has been found to attack some 20 plant families in India, exhibiting a strong preference for guava.

What are  Indigenous Bugs for fighting Pests?

• These indigenous predators were ladybird beetles of the Coccinellidae family and the green lacewing fly from the Neuroptera order.
• These insects have four life stages which are egg, grub, pupa and adult and they complete their life cycle in 30-40 days. 
• The bugs fed on the woolly whiteflies during the active grub stage for 10-12 days, consuming more of the flies as they grew.
• A tiny predator can eat 200-300 woolly whiteflies throughout its growing stage.

Significance: In could provide relief to fruit farmers and management of exotic pests is crucial for India’s farm economy, but it is important to employ economically viable and environmentally sound measures, therefore entomologists focussed on native predators for natural control of the woolly whiteflies.