Citrus White Fly Nymph

Images made through a microscope. All subject types.

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Ken Ramos
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Location: lat=35.4005&lon=-81.9841

Citrus White Fly Nymph

Post by Ken Ramos »

I have posted some of these before back in the old forums when I was unsure of what exactly they were. I found them on the underside of some small leaves of a shrub I think to be a Lilac, however I am not sure of that either. (Sigh...) What do I know? :-k Anyway they appear as very small light yellowish spots and you have to look very close to see them with the naked eye for the most part. I finally got an ID on them after submitting them to www.bugguide.net :D

Image

A low power shot to give you an idea of the overall appearance of these things. The posterior of the nymph is to the upper right corner and the anterior of course lower left. Note that there are what appears to be three appendanges, for the lack of a better term, of sorts and a visbile exoskeletal formation in the middle.

Image

Now progressively closer, we can see to the right and left of the so called appendages, eyespots. One on the left the other on the right and looking to the posterior we can now see a small lump, again for the lack of a better term. Actually this is some sort of valve. It opens and closes at irregular intervals. Probably it is used to expell gases from within the nymphs structure (phew! :shock: )

Image

Lastly here we are up close and personal to that valve. Also in the lower left corner an eyespot is visible. I do not know how they go about attaching themselves to the leaves. Using a sharp needle or dissecting probe, one can easily lift them from the surface of the leaf and surprisingly there is no evidence of any harm having been done to the leaf itself. :D

Sony DSC-P200
Zeiss Axiostar Plus
2.5X/0.06 A-Plan objective
5X/0.12 CP Achromat objective
10X/0.25 CPAchromt objective
Duel Pipe Fiber Optic Halogen Illumination

MacroLuv
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Joined: Mon Aug 28, 2006 2:36 pm
Location: Croatia

Post by MacroLuv »

Great looking photographs! :smt023
Ken, it looks very well embedded in citrus environment and could have a delicious taste in some nice citrus pudding. :D

Citrus Tapioca Pudding

Yield: Makes 8 servings

Ingredients:

2 navel oranges
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons tapioca
2-1/2 cups fat-free (skim) milk
1/4 cup cholesterol-free egg substitute
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Ground cinnamon or nutmeg


Preparation:

1.
Grate peel of 1 orange into medium saucepan. Add sugar, tapioca, milk and egg substitute; let stand 5 minutes. Cook and stir over medium heat 5 minutes or until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat; stir in almond extract. Cool, uncovered, 20 minutes. Stir well; let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate, covered, at least 2 hours.

2.
Peel and dice oranges. Stir tapioca mixture; fold in oranges. Spoon evenly into 8 dessert dishes. Sprinkle each serving with cinnamon.


Citrus passionfruit delicious pudding

Ingredients (serves 4)

60g butter, softened
3/4 cup caster sugar
2 eggs, separated
1 large lemon, rind finely grated, juiced
2 tablespoons passionfruit pulp
1 cup milk
1/4 cup plain flour
pure icing sugar, to serve

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a 5cm deep, 15cm x 23cm (base), 6-cup capacity baking dish. Using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
Stir in lemon rind, 1/4 cup lemon juice, passionfruit and milk. Sift flour over mixture and stir until combined.
Using clean blades, beat eggwhites in a bowl until soft peaks form. Fold into passionfruit mixture until just combined.
Pour batter into baking dish. Place dish in a baking pan. Pour boiling water into pan so it comes halfway up sides of dish. Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes or until pudding is just firm on top and light golden.
Remove dish from baking pan and stand for 5 minutes. Dust pudding with icing sugar and serve.
The meaning of beauty is in sharing with others.

P.S.
Noticing of my "a" and "the" and other grammar
errors are welcome. :D

Bruce Williams
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Joined: Mon Oct 30, 2006 1:41 pm
Location: Northamptonshire, England
Contact:

Post by Bruce Williams »

Ken,

This is another interesting post of yours that sent me scuttling off to the net to check it out :smt024 . Nice clear pics too.

Re. your comment about the leaf being unharmed: I wonder if it could be something to do with the host species (Lilac I think you said). According to an extract from the IngentaConnect website: "The larval instars of CWF secrete honeydew, and the sooty mould fungus, which develops on the honeydew, causes damage to the tree and its fruit." (I'm assuming it's the same species Dialeurodes citri).

Bruce

Ken Ramos
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Joined: Thu Jul 27, 2006 2:12 pm
Location: lat=35.4005&lon=-81.9841

Post by Ken Ramos »

Well I don't know Bruce. There are no citrus trees anywheres near where I am at here in North Carolina but yet these CWF nymphs are always showing up on this particular shrub and why that is I have no idea. I have inspected several more trees, vines, and other leafy plants in the near and close vacinity and there are no CWF's to be found on them nor has there been any presence of honeydew or sooty moulds either. Makes me wonder :-k

beetleman
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Joined: Fri Aug 04, 2006 4:19 am
Location: Southern New Hampshire USA

Post by beetleman »

Maybe because it is a fly, this might be an early pupa stage and is not actually feeding. oops...as I was posting I found a link...check it out.
http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/citrus/ci ... y_pupa.htm
Very sharp photos Ken. It does list lilac as a host plant.
Take Nothing but Pictures--Leave Nothing but Footprints.
Doug Breda

Ken Ramos
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Joined: Thu Jul 27, 2006 2:12 pm
Location: lat=35.4005&lon=-81.9841

Post by Ken Ramos »

Could be your right there Doug. I know little about insects. I had removed a rather large one from a leaf many moons ago and noticed that it had done the leaf no harm. Thanks Doug :D

svalley
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Joined: Sun Dec 03, 2006 7:07 pm
Location: Albany, Oregon

Post by svalley »

Nice shots Ken.
"You can't build a time machine without weird optics"
Steve Valley - Albany, Oregon

Ken Ramos
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Joined: Thu Jul 27, 2006 2:12 pm
Location: lat=35.4005&lon=-81.9841

Post by Ken Ramos »

Thanks Steve! :D

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