Whitefly

More than 1550 species have been named. The three most important afflicting south Florida are the fig, spiral and nesting. The fig white fly was introduced several years ago and has concentrated the ficus hedges and trees causing great damage to them and eventually death. The minute white colored fly feeds by piercing the living tissue of plants and releasing a toxic saliva to affect the plant’s overall health. Whiteflies gather in massive numbers and will quickly overwhelm a plant. The Rugose Spiraling whitefly attacks gumbo limbo trees and certain varieties of palms including coconut palms. The nesting whitefly is a relatively new whitefly and is also attacking ficus.