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Glite Dictionary
sweet-potato whitefly

sweet-potato whitefly

6.1
A small insect that attacks sweet potatoes and other crops and spreads plant viruses
  • noun
  • /ˈswit pəˌteɪtoʊ ˈwaɪtˌflaɪ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : mosca blanca de batata
  • In recent studies, the impact of the sweet potato whitefly, sweet-potato whitefly, on agricultural productivity has been highlighted.

Examples

  • Farmers are taking precautions to control the sweet potato whitefly, sweet-potato whitefly, to protect their sweet potato yields.

  • The sweet potato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, has been present in Honduras for many years.

    Academic text (1993)

  • The sweet potato whitefly, sweet-potato whitefly, can cause significant damage to crops by spreading plant viruses.

Synonyms

whitefly
vssweet-potato whitefly
  • Specialized
1 8.1

A small white insect that sucks sap from plants and damages them

is the specific crop pest known for spreading plant viruses and damaging crops
Bemisia tabaci
vssweet-potato whitefly
  • Specialized
9.9

A small whitefly that feeds on and harms many crop plants

focuses on one specific crop and on spreading plant viruses

Surface Forms

sweet-potato whitefly singular
sweet-potato whiteflies plural

Morphology

sweet-potato + whitefly

The meaning is compositionally derived from 'sweet-potato' (sweet potato) + 'whitefly' — i.e. a whitefly associated with or infesting sweet potatoes. This modifier+head noun pattern is a straightforward, cross-linguistically common noun-compound construction, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the intended meaning.

Etymology

Sweet-potato whitefly comes from a simple image. It is a small pale insect called a whitefly that lives on sweet-potato leaves. So the name refers to the tiny 'pest' that damages those plants and can spread plant viruses.