Update on Bemisia tabaci from the UK
An overview on the occurrences of Bemisia tabaci (EPPO A2 quarantine pest) in the UK and multiple eradication campaigns carried out by the British Plant Protection Service was given at the Workshop on IPM in Greenhouse Ornamentals of the IOBC/WPRS held in Cambridge, UK in 1992-09-08/11. B. tabaci was found for the first time in the UK in 1943 when a population was detected in a Kent wood. The second occurrence of the whitefly was registered in the Royal Botanical Garden in Kew in 1980. Both outbreaks were only short-lived. The first commercial outbreaks were recorded in 1987 on poinsettia imported from the Netherlands. By 1991, 286 nursery outbreaks have been counted in England and Wales and 33 in Scotland. All these whitefly outbreaks have been eradicated. Investigations on the biotype of B. tabaci imported from the Netherlands showed it to belong to biotype B. Analysing trade patterns, it was found that infestations of B. tabaci in the UK can be traced from cuttings imported primarily from the Netherlands, but also from Germany, Israel, Denmark and Belgium.
Sources
Baker, R.H.A.; Cheek, S. (1993) Bemisia tabaci in the United Kingdom.
IOBC/WPRS Bulletin, Vol. 16(8) 1993, 6-11