This study aimed to develop a new eco-friendly control method of B. tabaci using a trap plant treated with systemic insecticide. Due to high preference, tobacco plant was selected as a trap plant among solanaceous plants. Out of all 6 systemic insecticides, dinotefuran WG showed the highest mortality (> 97.3 %) against B. tabaci. The concentrations of dinotefuran in tobacco leaves after systemic treatment showed the sharp increase in the pesticide from 2 hrs until 48 hrs (2 d) and steady increase over 35 d. The mortality of B. tabaci in tobacco leaves was about 80% at 9 hrs after treatment and over 90% at 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, and 35 d after treatment. The number of B. tabaci was counted every week after dinotefuran-treated tobacco pots were placed in the tomato greenhouse cultivation. The density of the insects with 3 tobacco plants was app. 75% lower than the control (w/o tobacco plant).

The toxicity of materials derived from rhizome of Cnidium officinale Makino to adults from B and Q biotype of Bemisia tabaci was examined using a leaf-dipping bioassay. Results were compared with those of two currently used insecticides: acetamiprid and thiamethoxam. The active principles of C. officinale rhizome were identified as butylidenephthalide (1), ligustilide (2), and 3-butylphthalide (3) by spectroscopic analysis. These compounds exhibited 100% mortality against both B and Q biotype adults at 2.5 mg/ml. At a concentration of 1.25 mg/ml, butylidenephthalide produced 88 and 92% mortality against B and Q biotype adults, respectively. 3-butylphthalide showed 100 and 89% mortality against B and Q type adults, respectively. Ligustilide exhibited 97 and 100% mortality against B and Q type adults, respectively. The toxicity of these compounds to B type adults was almost equal to that of thiamethoxam and acetamiprid, whereas two insecticides exhibited 40% mortality to Q biotype. C. officinale rhizome-derived materials merit further study as potential insecticides for the control of B. tabaci populations due to global efforts to reduce the level of highly toxic synthetic pesticides.

Since its first discovery in Jinchoen in 1998, three types of Bemisia tabaci have been recorded in the Repulic of Korea. Because B. tabaci damages the high-return produce such as eggplant and bell pepper, non-chemical methods are sought to control the B. tabaci populations. We studied the mating behaviors of Q-type B. tabaci by video-recording 20 virgin pairs using digital microscopes, of which 10 had a successful mating. The mating behaviors of Q-type males can be divided into searching, paralleling to female, mounting and wing-flicking stages, whereas those of females were almost motionless throughout the mating sequence. During the paralleling stage, males also exhibited antennal drumming and undulation behavior. B. tabaci is know to use vibratory signals during mating. To understand the frequency and function of vibratory signals, we are simultaneously video-recording mating behaviors and measuring vibratory signals by means of a laser vibrometer.