SCREENING OF BETELVINE CULTIVARS FOR RESISTANCE TO BETELVINE WHITEFLY, Singhiella pallida (Singh) (HEMIPTERA : ALEYRODIDAE) AND NEW HOST PLANT RECORDS B.K. DAS 1 and S.K. MALLICK 2 1 All India Working Research Project on Betelvine Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Kalyani  741 235, Nadia, West Bengal Email : bkdas1963@rediffmail.com 2 Department of Agril.Entomology, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur  741252 Nadia, West Bengal ABSTRACT : Betelvine (Piper betle L.) is a perennial dioecious evergreen creeper, grown in shady condition with high humidity. Betelvine whitefly, Singhiella (Dialeurodes) pallida (Singh) (Hemiptera : Aleyrodidae) is an important and common pest of betelvine causing severe damage to betel leaves. Screening of betelvine cultivars for resistance to betelvine whitefly, S. pallida was carried out in a conservatory (boroja) located at the Research Farm of Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Nadia, West Bengal for two consecutive years (2005 and 2006). A total of twenty-three cultivars were evaluated. Suitability of three species of Piper as the hosts of betelvine whitefly was also tested. None of the tested cultivars of betelvine was completely free from whitefly infestation, though Simurali Sanchi and Kalipatti (both are of Sanchi type) were found to be moderately resistant in both the years. Here, three species of the genus Piper (P. longum, P. chaba and P. hamiltonii) have been recorded as the new hosts of S. pallida. Key words: Betelvine, resistance, Singhiella pallida INTRODUCTION Betelvine, Piper betle L. (Piperaceae: Piperales) is an important cash crop, and grown in about 50,000 ha in India mainly for its leaves, which are used for chewing (Maity and Shivashankara, 1998). Betelvine is one of the least land-intensive and highly labour- intensive crops (Sen and Roy, 1984). This crop has great market value both inside and outside India with a trade worth Rs.7000 million every year which puts betelvine next to black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) in economic importance among the members of the family Piperaceae (Balasubhramanyam et al., 1994). Betelvine is a dioceious plant, propagated vegetatively for commercial cultivation. Till the discovery of male and female flowers and fruiting in India (Rao and Maiti, 1989), it was believed that only male plants were grown in India (Aiyer, 1947). Under controlled hybridization, attempts have been made to cross different landraces at IIHR, Bangalore and a large number of hybrids were developed (Maiti and Shivashankara, 1998; Maiti and Saikia, 2002). Pest Management in Horticultural Ecosystems, Vol. 16, No. 1 pp 17-24 (2010) 17