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How to identify it
- Adults look like typical whiteflies, tiny and white with wings, and fly up when the plant is disturbed, but they are short-lived and not the best stage for judging an infestation.[1][4]
- Check the undersides of leaves for the nymphs: flat, oval and transparent at first, then yellower and more rounded with visible red eyes; empty pupal cases and parasitized nymphs are also signs.[1]
- Leaves turn yellow before they drop, and by the time a hedge is losing leaves, the whitefly has usually been there for several months.[1]
Look-alikes
| Look-alike | How to tell them apart |
|---|---|
| Other whiteflies | More than 75 kinds of whiteflies occur in Florida, but this one has been reported only on ficus.[1] |
Where it lives
First reported attacking ficus in Miami-Dade County in 2007, a new record for the continent; by 2010 it had been found in 16 Florida counties, from Monroe north to Brevard, Orange and Hillsborough.[1][4]
Biology and life cycle
The life cycle takes about a month: eggs are laid on the undersides of leaves, the crawlers wander briefly before settling to feed, and the nymphs stay in place until the adults emerge.[1]
Later stages on fallen leaves can survive and emerge as adults that attack more ficus.[1]
Damage and signs
- Weeping fig (Ficus benjamina) is the preferred host. UF/IFAS's later bulletin lists at least 11 ficus species as hosts, including edible fig, fiddle-leaf fig and creeping fig, which the 2010 landscape fact sheet had listed as apparently unaffected.[3][1]
- Most defoliated trees and hedges grow new leaves, but dead branches need to be pruned out.[1][4]
Health risk
It feeds only on ficus; none of the sources reports harm to people or pets.[1][2]
Control
Prevention
Check ficus regularly for nymphs on the leaf undersides, since an infestation is easier to manage before it builds up and strips the plant.[1]
Sanitation
Prune infested hedges less to reduce stress, and either leave clippings on the property or bag them so the whiteflies aren't spread.[1]
Biological control
Parasitoid wasps, beetle predators and lacewings attack the whitefly, and the parasitoid Baeoentedon balios has become the most consistent one in southern Florida; protect them by avoiding broad sprays.[1][3]
Pesticides
Where control is needed, UF/IFAS points to systemic neonicotinoid insecticides applied to the soil or trunk, with insecticides rotated among different modes of action because whiteflies develop resistance; follow the label.[1][4]
Common questions
- Why is my ficus hedge losing all its leaves?
- In South and Central Florida, yellowing leaves followed by heavy leaf drop on a ficus hedge often mean ficus whitefly; check the leaf undersides for nymphs and pupal cases.[1][4]
- Will a bare ficus hedge come back?
- In most cases trees and hedges grow new leaves; prune out any dead branches.[1][4]
Sources
- UF/IFAS Tropical Research and Education Center, “Ficus Whitefly Management in the Landscape (C. Mannion and H. Glenn, February 2010; copy hosted by the University of Arizona Arizona Pest Management Center).” cales.arizona.edu/apmc/docs/Ficus-Whitefly-(Feb2010)-Fact-Sheet.pdf (accessed 2026-10-17)
- UF/IFAS Extension (EDIS), “Pest Identification Guide: Ficus Whitefly, Singhiella simplex (ENY993, N. A. Casuso and H. A. Smith, May 2018; reviewed August 2021).” edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdf/IN/IN120300.pdf (accessed 2026-10-17)
- UF/IFAS Extension (EDIS), “Balios Eulophid, Baeoentedon balios (Featured Creatures, EENY-676).” edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN1169 (accessed 2026-10-17)
- UF/IFAS Miami-Dade County Extension, “The Fig Whitefly: A New Pest in South Florida.” mrec.ifas.ufl.edu/lso/IAWG/FIG/The%20Fig%20Whitefly.htm (accessed 2026-10-17)
- iNaturalist, “Singhiella simplex taxon page (order and family).” www.inaturalist.org/taxa/501297 (accessed 2026-10-06)