GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF BEMISIA TABACI BI OTYPES C OLLECTED FROM AUTUMN-CULTURED POTATO FIELDS IN SYRIA

Potatoes are one of the most essential crops in irrigated fields of Syria. In 2007 we investigated whiteflies in autumn-cultured potato fields in six Syrian prefectures, Al-Hasakeh, Aleppo, Idleb, Hama, Homs and Damascus. Whiteflies were always observed in each investigation, and the density was 0.030-0.695 individuals per compound potato leaf. Moreover, in 2007, 14 samples of adult whiteflies were collected from 12 autumn-cultured potato fields, one tomato field and one yellow water pan in seven prefectures, Al-Hasakeh, Aleppo, Idleb, Latakia, Hama, Homs and Damascus. The samples were identified using whitefly mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (mtCOI) sequence analysis, and confirmed that they were the Q, B and non-B (B2) biotypes of Bemisia tabaci. The six samples from Aleppo and Hama were the Q biotype, the four samples from Latakia, Homs and Damascus the B biotype and the four samples from Al-Hasakeh, Aleppo and Idleb the non-B (B2) biotype. This paper is the first report of the geographic distribution of B. tabaci biotypes collected from autumn-cultured potato fields in Syria.