Twenty soybean genotypes were evaluated in relation to silverleaf whitefly [Bemisia tabaci (Genn.) biotype B] resistance, in a free-choice test, under greenhouse conditions. The experiment was carried out with artificially infested soybean plants and evaluated during vegetative and reproductive stages. Line D 75-10169 and cultivars IAC 17 and IAC 19 presented nonpreference for oviposition, weak colonization and low adult attractiveness. Trichome density at abaxial trifoliolate surface was also measured in twenty soybean genotypes, at three plant positions (upper, middle and lower canopies), at the same development stages of the free-choice test. The line D 75-10169 presented the lowest trichome density while the cultivar 'IAC Holambra Stwart' showed the highest one. Significant correlations were detected between adult attractiveness and oviposition preference and between adult attractiveness and colonization level. To confirm the oviposition preference results, a no-choice test was carried out, also in greenhouse conditions, and the performance of five soybean genotypes (one highly susceptible and four with the smallest levels of oviposition) was checked. The line PI 227687, though showing multiple resistance to insects, was highly oviposited by silverleaf whitefly, while 'IAC 19', 'IAC 17', 'Coodetec 201' and line D 75-10169 showed oviposition nonpreference as the mecanism of resistance. The results strongly suggest that the resistance observed in those genotypes is stable.
Glicyne max; host plant resistance; oviposition preference; silverleaf whitefly
