Population Ecology of the Whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) Infesting Pepper Plants and Its Control

Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius), known commonly as the whitefly, is of global economic importance as it can cause damage to agricultural hosts on a global scale. The objective of this paper will be to understand the population abundance of B. tabaci on pepper plants (Capsicum annuum) throughout the two seasons (2023/2024 and 2024/2025) under Mansoura district, Dakhlia Governorate, Egypt. We also assessed the weather factors and plant age on B. tabaci abundance using the simple correlation coefficient, multiple regression, and principal components models. The data revealed that B. tabaci were found on the pepper plants 30 days after planting, which is from the first week of October, and continued to be found on the pepper plants until the fourth week of January during both seasons. For both seasons, the cumulative whitefly-days were 10234.00 and 10717.00 B. tabaci individuals each season. The variability of B. tabaci counts to predict using a multiple regression model was 94.50% and 88.81% for each season, respectively. After evaluating the effect of the insecticide viability after 72 hours, the activity of the tested insecticide, imidacloprid, exhibited it to be the most susceptible insecticide compared to the other tested pesticides on B. tabaci nymphs and adult females, and the mineral oil was the least toxic. These results will improve the ability to control the whitefly population on pepper plants and reduce the damage of each of the insecticides.