Delphastus catalinae is a North American predatory ladybird of whiteflies. It is predacious as an adult and as larvae. Adult beetles are active flyers that are attracted to the volatiles secreted by young whiteflies. They lay their eggs within the whitefly colonies and feed on immature whitefly stages, but prefer whitefly eggs and young larvae.
Delphastus beetles are voracious and need to be introduced in large whitefly populations. Delphastus avoids feeding on parasitized whitefly pupae, so are ideal to be used in combination with Encarsia-System and Eretmocerus -System and it is not affected by short photo periods.
Key Features
- Whitefly predatory ladybeetle
- Larvae and adults are predacious
- Controls tobacco whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) and the greenhouse whitefly (Trialeurodes vaporariorum)
- Curative biological control agent (immediate action in hotspots)
- Discriminates parasitized whitefly pupae (Non diapausing)
Storage
- Use immediately upon receipt
- If not possible, product can be briefly stored horizontally at 50-59° F (10-15° C)
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