Abstract: 【Aim】 Different plant growth regulators could either facilitate or inhibit herbivores’ oviposition behavior, development and foraging, thus affecting the relationship between insects and their host plants. By detecting the potential effects of the widely used plant growth regulator indo-3-acetic acid (IAA) on Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) biotype B, we aim to find out environmentally-friendly methods to whitefly management and hope to rear better whiteflies as alternative host of parasitoids. 【Methods】 We sprayed IAA on tomato Solanum lycopersicum L. seedlings, and then measured the physiological indexes of tomato leaves and the influences of IAA on the survival, oviposition and detoxification enzyme activities of B. tabaci adults. 【Results】 After application of IAA, the water content, leaf area, polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity and chlorophyll concentration in tomato leaves increased, the peroxidase (POD) activity decreased, and the superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity did not show significant change (P＞0.05). B. tabaci adults had a higher survival rate and deposited more eggs on the plants treated with IAA. The survival rate of B. tabaci adults and the total number of eggs laid were the greatest in the 50 mg/L IAA treatment, and the survival rate of B. tabaci adults was the lowest in the 250 mg/L IAA treatment. The alkaline phosphatase (AKP) and SOD activities were higher in the treatment groups than in the untreated controls. 【Conclusion】 After tomato plants are sprayed with different concentrations of IAA solution, the physiological and biochemical parameters of tomato change to different degrees, and the survival, oviposition and detoxification enzyme activities of whiteflies on the plants also change to one degree or another. Appropriate doses of IAA could facilitate better performance of whiteflies, by which we can provide more excellent substitutable hosts for breeding wasps.

Key words:  Bemisia tabaci B type, indole-3-acetic acid （IAA）, tomato, detoxification enzyme, survival rate, oviposition