Photo-Response of Tobacco Whitefly, Bemisia tabaci Gennadius (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), to Light-emitting Diodes

Abstract

The photo-response of the tobacco whitefly to light-emitting diodes of four different wavelengths and various intensities was tested in an LED-equipped Y-maze chamber and compared with the response to black light (BL), which is typically used in commercial traps. The BL showed the highest attraction rate (90.3%) to Bemisia tabaci, followed by a similarly strong attraction to the blue LED (89.0%), the yellow LED (87.7%), the green LED (85.3%), and the red LED (84.3%). These results suggest that energy-efficient LEDs could be used for more environmentally friendly insect control.