Biodiv Sci

Special Issue: 昆虫多样性与生态功能

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Competition between the B biotype and a non-B biotype of the whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) in Zhejiang, China

Liansheng Zang1, Shusheng Liu1*, Yinquan Liu1, Yongming Ruan1, Fanghao Wan2   

  1. 1 Institute of Applied Entomology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310029
    2 Centre for Management of Invasive Alien Species, Ministry of Agriculture, and Institute of Agricultural Environment and Sustainable Development, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081
  • Received:2004-12-22 Revised:2005-04-19 Online:2005-05-20 Published:2005-05-20
  • Contact: Shusheng Liu

Abstract:

In recent years the B biotype of Bemisia tabaci has been an invasive insect in China. To elucidate its potential to replace a non-B biotype of B. tabaci, native to Zhejiang, China, we reared both biotypes on various host plants in a series of laboratory experiments to observe the changes in their relative proportions. On cotton, when the two biotypes began competition in equal numbers, the non-B biotype was completely displaced by the B biotype after six generations, whereas on squash, the non-B biotype was completely dis-placed by the B biotype after only two generations. Even when the competition started with 87% of non-B biotype and 13% of B biotype in numbers, the non-B biotype was completely displaced in 225 days. The re-sults showed that the invasive B biotype has the capacity to displace the non-B biotype in a short period of time. A preliminary analysis indicates that, apart from the advantage of a wider host range of the B biotype over that of non-B biotypes, a stronger innate capacity for competition is another important factor in the suc-cessful invasion of the B biotype and its displacement of the native biotype.