Effect of Leaf Pubescence in Cotton, Gossypium hirsutum on the Parasitism of Whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius)

Two aphelinid parasites viz., Eretmocerus mundus Mercet and Encarsia shafeei Hayat are important parasitoids causing 85 to 90% mortality of cotton whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Natarajan et al., 1986.) The abundance and activity of natural enemies depend on the physical and chemical traits of the host plant upon which the host insect or prey is located (Vinson, 1976). In cotton, cultivars with glabrous leaf support more natural enemies than those with hairy leaves (Schuster and Calderon, 1986). The effect of cotton genotypes on the activity of two parasites of B. tabaci is reported.