Occurrence of Bondar's Nesting Whitefly, Paraleyrodes bondari (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), on cassava in Uganda

Cassava is a valued calorific source to millions of Africans who eat it daily and a vital staple for their foodsecurity. One of the key constraints to this crop is whiteflies which are both a vector of viral diseasesand a direct pest. Although the African cassava whitefly is known to cause physical damage on cassavawith considerable tuberous yield loss, a recent whitefly outbreak caused unusually severe damage, whichprompted the current reported investigation. Molecular identification of whitefly adults sampled fromthe affected cassava field revealed the presence of a new whitefly species, Paraleyrodes bondari. Thiscommunication is the first report of the occurrence of P. bondari on cassava in Uganda