Aleyrodes proletella (Linnaeus)

Hernández-Suárez, Estrella, Martin, Jon H., Gill, Raymond J., Bedford, Ian D., Malumphy, Christopher P., Betancort, J. Alfredo Reyes & Carnero, Aurelio, 2012, 3212, Zootaxa 3212, pp. 1-76 : 11-12

Aleyrodes proletella (Linnaeus)

( Figures 7, 46, 94)

Phalaena (Tinea) proletella Linnaeus, 1758: 537–538 .

Aleyrodes proletella (Linnaeus) ; Latreille, 1801 –1802: 264.

culiciformis ( Geoffroy, 1785: 306) ( Phalaena ) [Synonymised with A. chelidonii Latreille by Latreille, 1807: 174.]

prenanthis ( Schrank, 1801: 147) ( Coccus ) [Synonymised by Klimaszewski & Szelegiewicz, 1962:42.]

chelidonii Latreille, 1807: 174 [Synonymised by Walker, 1852:1092.] brassicae Walker, 1852: 1092 [Synonymised by Haupt, 1935: 256.]

euphorbiae Löw, 1867: 746 [Synonymised by Zahradnik, 1991:113.]

youngi Hempel, 1901: 385 [Synonymised by Bondar, 1923: 125.]

Distribution in the Canary Islands: LANZAROTE: Arrecife, Costa Teguise, Femés, Tinajo. FUERTEVEN- TURA: Corralejo, Nuevo Horizonte, Vega del Río Palma. GRAN CANARIA: La Aldea, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Vecindario. TENERIFE: Agua Mansa, Agua Dulce, Altos de Güímar, Bajamar, Buenavista, Cuevas Negras, Icod el Alto, Las Galletas, La Guancha, La Laguna, La Matanza, La Orotava, La Perdoma, Lomo de la Medida, Los Realejos, Pajalillos, Puerto de la Cruz, Valle de Guerra. LA GOMERA: Barranco Santiago, Hermigua, San Sebastián, Vallehermoso. LA PALMA: El Paso, La Caldera, Los Llanos, Los Sauces, Los Tilos, Mirador de la Cumbrecita, Pico de las Nieves, Roque de los Muchachos. Elsewhere: Palaeartic Region: widely distributed in Europe and Mediterranean countries, Azores and Madeira; Ethiopian Region: Angola, Cabo Verde, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa; Oriental Region: Taiwan; Australia: South Australia, Victoria; Pacific Region: New Zealand; Neotropical Region: Brazil; Neartic Region: eastern USA.

Host plants in the Canary Islands: Brassica oleracea , B. oleracea var. italica , Ficus carica , Lactuca palmensis , Lactuca sativa , Lactuca serriola , Sonchus oleraceus , Sonchus sp. Other host plants listed: hosts belonging to 12 plant families were listed by Mound & Halsey (1978) although this species shows a marked preference for Brassicaceae .

Comments: Aleyrodes proletella is noted as minor pest of brassicaceous plant species and is commonly known as the “European cabbage whitefly” ( Martin et al., 2000). It is not known to be a vector of plant virus diseases. In the field, adults of A. proletella are easily distinguished by the diffuse brownish spots on the forewing ( Fig. 94) and colonies of nymphs are frequently very numerous and covered by a fine white waxy powder ( Fig. 46). Puparia are usually pale, in contrast with another species present in the archipelago, Aleyrodes laurisilvae sp. nov., whose puparia have a distinct dark patch in the median region—see below.