In tropical and subtropical regions the tobacco whitefly has become a severe pest. At the moment it causes huge economic damage in southern European greenhouse crops, such as tomatoes, cucumber, melon, etc. Recently the tobacco whitefly has become more prevalent in western Europe.

The female tobacco whitefly deposits her small, oval shaped and yellow eggs on the underside of leaves, scattered all over the crop. The L1-larva is mobile. In the subsequent L2 and L3 larval and pupal stage, it is sessile. Larval stages differ from those of the greenhouse whitefly. The light yellow and transparent tobacco whitefly larva is oblate with a bevelled edge. The pupa is covered with few hairs. The adult tobacco whitefly emerges through a T-shaped opening. An adult tobacco whitefly is much smaller than a greenhouse whitefly, and its wings lay closely to the body and do not overlap.
The development from egg to adult takes 22 days at 26°C, but can take up to 70 days at 16°C.