TINY WHITE FLY

(Tiny white fly, Length Approx. 1 mm)

June 20, 2022

The underside of a leaf of one of my chilli plants was covered with spots of white cotton-like matter.

The shape of whitish bugs that I had noticed on a tomato plant, came into my mind. A few whitish bugs were seen on the plant.

Later, I realized that this infestation was different from that of whitish bugs. Tiny insects, which looked like moths, were on the underside of the leaf.

They were about 1 mm in length. Also, black oval-shaped seed-like spots were seen on the underside of the leaf. These black spots seemed attached to the leaves and they do not move.

A heavy infestation of tiny white flies might stunt the growth of the plant. All leaves were heavily infested. One leaf, other than the plant’s first two small leaves, had started to turn yellow. White flies might limit the energy available to the plant.

A healthy-looking tomato plant and a chilli plant were lightly infested. On the underside of a healthy-looking chilli leaf, the black spots were encircled by a fringe of cotton-like matter.

The tomato as well as different varieties of chillies were grown from seeds.

I tried spraying water to remove the tiny white flies. However, most of the black spots could not be removed. Some leaves of other chilli plants with this infestation were cut and removed.

If you want to purchase plants check whether they are not infested with tiny white flies—look for white cotton-like patches on the underside of the leaves.

Check the underside of the leaves of plants in your vegetable garden, rather than looking for symptoms—yellowing, stunted growth. Isolate infested plants and try to rescue them.

Whiteflies and cotton-like matter can be removed by spraying water. It is difficult to remove black spots by just spraying water onto the underside of infested leaves. The black spots become tiny flies later. However, you can apply some water and remove black spots with a brush.

Old black spots are hard to remove as they are firmly attached to the leaf. You run the risk of damaging the leaf when you try to remove old black spots. So, you must act as early as possible to get rid of the problem. If the black spots on a leaf are hard to remove, you can cut the infested leaf.

The images were captured as it was found happening in nature, and not enhanced using software. Images may be subject to copyright.