Getting good control of whiteflies can prove more challenging at higher temperatures. In a wide range of crops - from roses and poinsettias to tomatoes and sweet peppers - control strategies centre on two parasitic wasps, Encarsia-System (Encarsia formosa) and Eretmocerus-System (Eretmocerus eremicus) introduced in combination with predators.
As temperatures soar to over 30°C and humidity levels drop, Eretmocerus tends to perform better than Encarsia. Widely used to control greenhouse whitefly (T. vaporariorum), Eretmocerus-System can also play an important role controlling Tobacco whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) and will perform more host-feeding if the whitefly population is large. While being less sensitive to pesticides than other parasite wasps against whitefly, a single Eretmocerus is capable of parasitising around 150 whitefly larvae.
Available in a variety of formats - on cards, loose material and in a mix together with Encarsia (Eretmix-System) - now is the perfect time to release Eretmocerus-System in your crops!