Encarsia formosa

The parasitoid of greenhouse whiteflies is one of the main natural enemies of this pest. The insect used to fight against Trialeurodes vaporariorum, as well as Bemisia tabaci.

The adult is a tiny 0.6 mm long wasp with a black and yellow body. When a wasp finds a whitefly, it lays an egg in the host’s body. The colour of the pupal host changes to black (T. vaporariorum) or brown (B. tabaci). At the end of the larval stage, the adult cuts a round hole in the host’s body and gets out.
Under favourable conditions, Encarsia is one of the most reliable natural enemies of insect pests, with a high ability to search for live food. An important role in the fight against pests is also played by the fact that the insect eats the host pupa. EnPAK is used in the form of bottles of 3000 pupaes. The number of insects to spread is 2-6 individuals per m² per week. It is recommended to start processing immediately upon detection of the first whiteflies. On some plants, a combination of Encarsia formosa and Eretmocerus eremicus can be used.