Submitted to: Southwestern Entomologist
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: April 1, 2002
Publication Date: June 1, 2002
Citation: HENNEBERRY, T.J., JECH, L.J., DE LA TORRE, T.M. EFFECTS OF COTTON PLANT WATER STRESS ON BEMISIA TABACI STRAIN B (HOMOPTERA: ALEYRODIDAE) HONEYDEW PRODUCTION. SOUTHWESTERN ENTOMOLOGIST. 2002. v 27 pp. 117-133. Interpretive Summary: Honeydew produced by sweetpotato whitefly contains sugars that makes cotton sticky and difficult to process in textile mills. We are continuing to conduct research to identify factors influencing honeydew production. More honeydew sugars were produced by SPW feeding on non-water-stressed cotton plants compared with water stressed cotton. When furrow irrigated cotton was compared with furrow irrigated plus supplementary drip irrigation, cotton plants were less water stressed compared with furrow irrigation alone. SPW feeding on plants in the field with less stressed cotton produced more micrograms of honeydew sugars per gram of honeydew compared to those feeding on water stressed plants. SPW develop higher populations on water-stressed cotton compared with well-watered cotton, but our studies show that SPW produce more honeydew feeding on well-watered cotton.
Technical Abstract: Honeydew production by sweetpotato whitefly (SPW), Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) Strain B, feeding on water-stressed and non-water-stressed cotton was compared in field and greenhouse studies. In the field in 1999, leaf water potentials, as a measure of water stress, decreased with increasing numbers of days following irrigations. More honeydew sugars were produced by SPW feeding on cotton plants four days after irrigation (non-water stress) compared with 7 or 13 days after irrigation (water stress). In 2000, leaf water potentials of furrow irrigated cotton and furrow irrigated plus supplementary drip irrigated cotton (1 h per day) showed the same decreasing leaf water potential patterns as in 1999, but leaf water potentials decreased less in furrow irrigated plus supplementary drip irrigation compared with furrow irrigation alone. SPW feeding on plants in the field with furrow plus supplementary drip irrigation and in the greenhouse on non-stressed cotton plants produced more micrograms of honeydew sugars per gram of honeydew compared to SPW feeding on plants with furrow irrigation alone in the field and on water-stressed plants in the greenhouse.