Can we put a stop to this whitefly nuisance? If so, how?

Yes, ve can easily control the whitefly nuisance if we are only de-
tocnined to do so.
The ronedy is not a theoretical one because other' orinmunities

in the State Dhve controlled it effectively and more cheaply than to
continue to breed the whitefly. Of course e: ch co.!-:nnity must handle
the question according to the various needs of tia', particular loca-

tion,
During the spring of 1895 the people of Crescent City under
the leadership of Professor HuTiard eliminated. all of the evergreen

food plants of the whitefly from their neiIiborhood. This was li.ue-
diately after the great freeze -.,Tich destroyed the tops of the citrus

trees. Their efforts eradicated the whitefly, and it was nearly fifr
teen years before it wos, ro-introduced and bocmrne a pest in that sec-

tion, althour- citrus groves are every.where present in the city.
There are so few citrus trees in Gainesville that if all the ahina-
berry trees a-,d umbrellaa trees rere eliminated no one but the owners

of citrus trees would be affected by the whitefly.
The principal lines of railroads in Florida have taken steps
to eliminate it front their property and have succeeded very effective-

ly, not only in ridding themselves of it, but also have done a great
deal toward :ecping it froii being further disseminated in the State.
The State laws of Florida make any person liable to arrest and

punishment if they well or offer to give away plants or other material
which carry on them whitefly. This law is doing a great deal of









good in restricting the dissemination of the pest. The law has been
in force less than t'o years, but has already given valuable results,

2sa 190. 9gLtOiz.. ja la. alnesville..
.r:.i-L te ilueldiately all chinaberry trees and um.bralla trees,

as cll as all c .o jJasmrnine bushess and privet bushes, either in

hedges or a-s sil.lle plants.

A medium sizeJ. umbrella tree will carry fror five to twenty
r.illion iwhitcflies during: the brod.iin ;ia.ia'o; a large tre.? will lib.-

er-.:to aboutao million .liiteflies every day during the l.roc;lin,': sen,.-,..

This would not matter v -r.'- r Och if every one of us could be made to
3-- v tl. whiitefly at home, but since they will fly or be carried by

the wind aiy y-]j... for a distance of nearly tvIo miles this is impoosi-

ble. ',!0 really have no righit to inflict t.? pest on our io:CailIors,
es.-ocially our near neighbors and best friends.


The wli1tefly p,..-3...s the ,riL..ter on citrus tro-., cape jasr.inos,
privet, ol(n.:-i:rs, b.-anai-a shrubs, ,1;ponica and a very, very fc:.' otlier

species of 1 .ta. T':.' are carried over most lar.:. ly on citruls,
c j.pe ja; i.-n and privet plants. In the :. ling: a brood comes out which

is co-tposed of a coj.p.aratively small number, o my of them nir.rate to

the chinaberry and uni.rella trees,
The u-iltefly multiplies with exceeding r]apldity on the china-

bPry and u.7bre.lla trees, :i -,ty to one hundred per cent, of the egs

laid on these tre.s grow to maturity, while on citrus trees only ra out

fifty pe-r cent. of the eggs will coie .to maturity. During the summer-
tire it ta:e., only about thirty d-ays for o-iitefly er.s to grow into a






3

r.ture insect. A female whitefly may lay 4.a many as four hundred
eggs. prom this it will be seen that they multiply with astonishing
rapidity on their favorite food trees. In fact they rmu3tiply so rapid-
ly that by r-Lidsuunmer the trees become over crowded with :hitefly and
the female instinctively knows that they must swarm to some other
place for more food for the future generations. It I. at t-is time

that the whitefly fills the air, enters our houses, ;nd is present
alirost every:-here Late in the iLu..iLer the chinaberry and u'i rella
trees are preparing for wiinter, the whitefly gets instinctive notice
from this that it must nil-nrte to oi.'e ovecrgreen p rl2nt for its winter
food suTTly, ,._nd then we have countless billlio'Lis s-:-.Ai ',rrg in the air.
This procedure of migratbln~. to the cliLna'berry auid. uvibrella

trees in the sprin.tim-e ji Ld swarninri- front these during the jr and

fall, occurs every year.
If w:e could eliminate those ciilnaberry and l -btrella trees that

are now standing on vacant lots and along rod:~i.ys, and serving no

good pur-.ose, the vwitefly nuijannce would be red.uce-. at least fifty
per cent. If all of ti-e chinaberry aid ulibrella treos were elimin-
ated from our city there would be no w;,itefly nuisance in Gainestrille.
egt t sl IIt S =. Intrue
Frequently people ac-kert that the wltitefly can live and prop-

agate on hundreds of species of i.lnti. This is absolutely contra-
ry to the facts. From the best information obtalinA.'le it is certain
that there are less than forty species of plants in the whole United
States that have been found to be attacked by this pest. 1.any of
these species do not grow in Florida, and only a very few are favorite
food plants of the whiteflyr.








It has frequently been assorted that the live oaks, palmettoeCs

and gall-berrles are capable of sUPTorting the whlitefl-y This, howev-
er, Is not correct. At one time Dr. Bergor, then entomologistt of
the Experinent Station, offered a money reward to anyone Who would

,find him .7ii'tefly on ,-.llberry rpl.nts- Attempts were made to secure

this reward, but all eudod in failure. We can. con.fiddntly assert
that after twenty-five, years of most careful scientific -7orr_ on this
pest by scores of competent men, that the food, rl. ts of whliltefly are

extremely limited,
The main aw.7r.:ing time for the pest is froi, a:.out three

o'clock to just .before ua .:i These sv:ariinp *.. itflies ..,'vc to come

to r--st no..e,'.-here after they tire from their flight, and they will

limit o.n avrthing that haTpens to be near. 'Then t.-'e next .oriii, we.
are apt to find a lot of w~-hitefrly on nearly every shrub or bush in

the yard, and even on fences and electric light bulbs, but the fa-ct

that they hv-e cor;e to rest on these places .oes not indicate that

they can bread in such positions, though this is t.']. by ni.n~t people
to indicate that these resting plac:s are breeding locatio-.. for the

pest.


The native species of plants on wvlich the whitefly pre-

fers to feed are prickly asti, persiiiYn, wild olive nid green ash.

The introduced species of plants on.,which the Whitefly prefers to
feed are the chinaberry, umbrella trees, privet hecges, cape jasmine,
citrus and Japanese persilimon.

Aside from these preferred species of plants there are

less than three dozen upon wliich the whitefly can subsist if their








favorite food plants are not to be had. They multiply so slowly
upon these plants that this question may be left out of our consid-
eration.

12K 19t. AQ0oosadal BLaaU..12.
* Of course no good will resultffrom your efforts to abate the
whitefly nuisance unless tI., whole community enters heartily into the
campaign. There are many clinaberry and umbrella trees st ending on
vacant lots and along the roadways, The. persons ownin-ig these prem-
ises are not likely to be affected by the presence of wrhitefly produo-
ed on their property; they however breed the nuisance and spread it
all around t2le neighborhood. This is a very important point that
has to be considered in handling the whitefly situation. The pest
breeds by i, ill ions on these trees and 3warms aw.v a from therer to the
whole region for a mile or so around..
It is of highest importance, therefore, if v,, wish ,to abate
tDis whitefly nuisance to-destroy all of our chinaberry trees, niA-
brella trees, privet hedges and cape jasmine bushes, 'Th' other plants
that are favorite food of this pest are so few that it would nak:e no
material difference to the general comfort if they were allowed to --e-
nain. This work, however, needs to be taken up as a general prop-
osition for the city* and this time of the year is the very best time
t e take it up, when there is still an abundance of opportunity of.re-
moving-all of these trees and setting out new trees There shade is
needed..
-Hundredo of chinaberry.and unibrella trees have been sacrificed
in Florida for the comforts and profits of the oommnnity, we have
in Gaineaville just as loyal and-patriotic citizens as live anywhere





/ 6





,i.d t.e o:.l7 reason tmat ;s3o in.y vhitefly a.ve lbE-r. er.re.) :i3 t i ,it

t i m.l:t r hi3 io-t iJ..- called t. the 11.'r Ol .t1 t i 1n ,f tio

' o.le .i!0o '. th t:;7ras.

a.m ntP. 17 rLU7,S.