Phylogenetic Relationships of Host Plants of Whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Genn.)

Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) is capable of feeding on 910 plant species, belonging to 114 families and 71 orders globally. It prefers more dicotyledonous plants than the monocot ones. Fifty percent plants fall in Lignosae group (fundamentally woody plants) and 42.31 percent in the Herbaceae group (fundamentally herbaceous plants) of dicotyledons. Monocotyledons shared 7.25 percent from 17 families and 12 orders. Six phylogenetic lineages showed prominence in dicotyledons and two in monocotyledons. Since B. tabaci has such a large number of hosts, ranging through many families and orders makes it undoubtedly a polyphagous pest and truly said world’s most dangerous insect pest.