Biology of citrus whitefly, Dialeurodes citri (Ashmead) on Citrus reticulate (Mandarin) var. Kinnow

Screen house studies on biology of citrus whitefly, Dialeurodes citri (Ashmead) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), were conducted during 2014-15 in screen house of Department of Entomology College of Agriculture, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar on citrus mandarin (var. Kinnow). Results on biological studies of D. citri revealed that female on an average laid 151±42.99 eggs with an incubation period of 13.3±1.89 days. The mean duration of first, second and third instar nymphs were 13.1±1.77, 11.1±2.05 and 15.4±2.41 days, respectively. The pupal duration was 108.3±4.33 days. Adult Male lived for 16.5±1.96 days whereas adult female lived for 18.6±2.06 days. The male whitefly completed its life cycle in 178.8±6.73 days whereas the corresponding period for female whitefly was 180±7.02 days. This study established that biology of the insect is rather a stable trait because no significant variation was observed when compared with decade old reports despite the fact that agro-ecology including weather phenomenon have undergone significant change in the last decade.