An outbreak of the sugarcane whitefly (Neomaskellia andropogonis Corbett) recently occurred in sugarcane fields in Khuzestan Province of Iran. This pest sucks plant sap producing large amounts of honeydew. In Khuzestan Province, populations of all developmental stages increase from early August until late November. At this time, when sugarcane is at the ripening stage, nymphs suck the sap, and in cases of severe infestation, retard the growth of sugarcane plants. In this study, we investigated the biology of the pest on different cultivars of sugarcane and under different temperatures. Also, we conducted experiments to determine the damage caused by the pest in the field. Mean pre-adult developmental times were 24.09, 28.06, 27.27 and 26.64 days on CP69-1062, CP57-1062, CP48-103 and NCO-310 cultivars, respectively, and only female progeny were produced. Mean longevity of females on the four cultivars was 6, 8.49, 4.15 and 4.60 days, respectively. Adult females laid an average of 61.80, 58.80, 41.10 and 39.38 eggs on the four cultivars, respectively. Results show that the optimum temperature for development of different stages of N. andropogonis is 30±1°C during the day and 25±1°C at night, and at this temperature, egg and nymphal duration (including first, second, third instars and pupae) and adult longevity were 6.2, 17.0 and 7.6 days, respectively. Females of cultivar CP69-1062 laid an average of 50.09 eggs. Analysis of data on the quality of damage (including Brix, pol and refined sugar factors) shows that damage was inversely and significantly correlated with the number of infested leaves. Whitefly damage differed among cultivars; and, based on the quality of damage, early maturing cultivars were more susceptible to whitefly damage. We collected two parasitoid wasps from nymphs—Encarsia inaron (Walker) (Hym.: Aphelinidae) and Eretmocerus delhiensis Mani (Hym.: Aphelinidae). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to assess the biology, damage and natural enemies of N. andropogonis on sugarcane in Iran.

Aleurolobus barodensis (Maskell) was more abundant than Neomaskellia andropogonis Corbett on sugar-cane in Pakistan. Azotus delhiensis Lal, Eretmocerus sp., Prospaltella flava Shafee, Amitus sp. and Tetrastichus sp. parasitized nymphs and pupae of A. barodensis and E. serius Silvestri those of N. andropogonis. Chrysopa carnea Steph., Brumoides suturalis (F.), Catana parcesetosa (Sic.), Oenopia sauzeti Muls., Scymnus sp. and S. nubilus Muls. preyed on the immatures of the aleurodids.

In Peshawar valley where the crop is aerially sprayed twice a year to control Chilo infuscatellus Sn., Tryporyza nivella F., A. barodensis and Pyrilla spp., the rate of parasitism on A. barodensis was very low and its density was very high, being 330 immatures/leaf at Charsadda and 425 at Mardan in November 1979. At Sialkot (Punjab) where the crop is not sprayed, the rate of parasitism, mainly by A. delhiensis and Amitus sp., at this time was 22% and the density of A. barodensis was 70.4 immatures/leaf. The maximum rate of parasitism was 71% in January. The abundance of A. barodensis in Peshawar valley seems to be due to the mortality of natural enemies because of aerial spraying, therefore, judicious use of insecticides and redistribution of natural enemies in these areas is recommended.