Invasion of the Q2 mitochondrial variant of Mediterranean Bemisia tabaci in southern Italy: possible role of bacterial endosymbionts.

Background: The whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) is a complex of cryptic species, some of which, namely the Mediterranean (MED) and the Middle East-Asia Minor 1 (MEAM1), are highly invasive and injurious crop pests worldwide and able to displace local genotypes. Invasiveness of B. tabaci may depend on the phenotype of inherited bacterial endosymbionts.