Fresno, CA — Recently, alarms have sounded in Florida over the discovery of the Biotype-Q subspecies of whitefly for the first time outside of greenhouses and nurseries. The level of concern among the agricultural, nursery and ornamental industries is especially high because of this whitefly subspecies’ ability to quickly develop resistance to most conventional insecticides. Considering the potential loss to just Florida fruit and vegetable crops the Type-Q subspecies could push the total US crop losses caused by whiteflies rapidly and significantly past the current value of over $2 billion annually.
However, research and in-field usage among some Florida tomato growers has shown PREV-AM®, from Oro Agri, can be an effective tool in fighting insecticide-resistant Type-Q whiteflies. PREV-AM, as a contact pesticide with no residual activity, utilizes desiccation as the means to kill or disable target pests. Because it uses a physical, not a neurological-based, mode of action it is extremely unlikely whiteflies can develop resistance to PREV-AM. This physical mode of action disrupts several of the insect’s lifecycle stages, effectively crashing existing whitefly populations and significantly curtailing any immediate repopulation.
Independent laboratory studies in Spain, a long-established hotbed of Type-Q populations, showed that a standard 0.4% v/v application of PREV-AM controlled 97.62% of Type-Q 1st and 2nd instar populations. This level of efficacy can effectively wipe out an entire generation of whiteflies. In addition to controlling instars PREV-AM, when applied to adult whiteflies, will quickly desiccate and destroy their wings, and ultimately kill them through desiccation of their bodies, usually within hours.
PREV-AM can be a valuable tool in managing pesticide resistance in whiteflies or other insect or mite pests. It can easily be incorporated into a spray program and applied alone to reduce the number of sprays of resistant-susceptible insecticides. Or, PREV-AM can be tank mixed with residual insecticides to quickly knockdown existing pest populations before the residual control takes effect.
PREV-AM is an EPA registered product. Always read and follow label directions.
