whitefly

[ hwahyt-flahy, wahyt- ]

noun,plural white·flies.
  1. any of several plant-sucking, homopterous insects of the family Aleyrodidae, having the body and wings dusted with a white, powdery wax, and being widely distributed chiefly in tropical regions where they are often serious crop pests, as Dialeurodes citri(citrus whitefly ), commonly occurring on citrus trees, and Trialeurodes vaporariorum(greenhouse whitefly ), inhabiting greenhouses.

Origin of whitefly

1
First recorded in 1885–90; white + fly1

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for whitefly

whitefly

/ (ˈwaɪtˌflaɪ) /


nounplural -flies
  1. any hemipterous insect of the family Aleyrodidae, typically having a body covered with powdery wax. Many are pests of greenhouse crops

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012