Determining the Egg Fertilization Rate of Bemisia tabaci Using a Cytogenetic Technique

The protocol that Liz developed allows us to determine whitefly fertilization rate. Applying this technique will improve our understanding of the behavior and ecology of whiteflies. Whiteflies are haplodiploid, so the fertilization rate is equal to the sex ratio at oviposition.

This protocol is the first described for whiteflies, to our knowledge, and can be completed within three hours. To begin, make a coverable hole in the Petri dish cover to insert and to remove the adult whiteflies. Set up a humidity chamber and fashion a probe by inserting a thin pin at a comfortable working angle into a melted pipette tip to make a thin probe.