The woolly whitefly, Aleurothrixus floccosus Mask., first discovered in residential San Diego during November 1966 surveys for the citrus whitefly, has been of deep concern to the citrus industry , the University of California, and various agricultural agencies. In 1968, a study by Harold Lewis for the California-Arizona Citrus League estimated potential losses to California citrus of $10 per acre for either whitefly or a 17 percent average increase in total pest control costs statewide.

Their research has been funded in part by the California State Department of Food and Agriculture (CSDFA) and the California Citrus Advisory Board (CAB). Cooperation has been extended by other Wncies, especially by the Mexican SAG--Sanidad Vegetal; the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Plant Protection Division; the County Agricultural Commissioner's Offices of San Diego, Orange, and Los Angeles, and the entomologists of the California Fruit Growers Exchange. They have been assisted in this work by Doug McEnery, Steve Olson, Marilyn Reynolds, Larry Ritchie, and Mike Thornton.