Biological Whitefly Control

Description:

Whiteflies, tiny mothlike pests, mainly settle on the undersides of leaves and they debilitate the plants by sucking the sap, causing them to droop and eventually die. They leave behind a sticky deposit and large numbers of their larvae can usually be seen on the underside of the leaves. The larvae is almost translucent.

The adult parasitic wasp, Encarsia attacks the scales of greenhouse whitefly and about 10 days later they turn black. For use in greenhouses and conservatories it is most effective when temperatures are a minimum of 18C. The wasps should be introduced immediately on receipt and only when the pests are present. An adult female will lay up to 60 eggs during her short lifetime of 10 to 14 days, and they mature between 14 to 28 days depending on the temperature.

The Encarsia lifecycle takes about a month from egg to adult, so to ensure that adult wasps are continuously working on the scales ideally you should introduce a second batch of Encarsia two weeks after the first to fill the gap until your first home-bred ones emerge.
500 Encarsia.