【Background】Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) is one of the important pests of various cultivated crops in Yunnan Province. Studies of the use of various host plants could aid the development of control methods of this harmful invasive species. 【Method】We combined of field investigation with laboratory observations to describe the vertical distribution of B.tabaci on tobacco plants, and feeding location, and oviposition preference on eight other host plants. 【Result】Whiteflies preferred the upper parts of tobacco plants over the middle or lower part. The population peaked in mid August, with adult densities of 15.1, 10.9, and 6.7 individuals per leaf on the various plant parts, respectively. The feeding preference sequence demonstrated by B.tabaci adults was soybean (Glycine max)>pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata)>sweet potato (Dioscorea esculenta)>tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum)>poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima)>eggplant (Solanum melongena)>cabbage (Brassica oleracea)>tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), but with no significant differences between them. The oviposition preference of B.tabaci adults was poinsettia>soybean>pumpkin>sweet potato>tomato>eggplant>cabbage>tobacco. Adult fecundity showed significant differences between poinsettia and pumpkin, cabbage, eggplant, sweet potato, tomato and tobacco; there was also a significant difference in fecundity on soybean vs. tobacco. There was no significant difference on the other host plants. 【Conclusion and significance】Tobacco was a less preferred and less suitable host plant for B.tabaci than the seven other host plants studied. Consequently, soybean, pumpkin, sweet potato, or tomato should not be planted in the near vicinity of tobacco plantings, because of possible spillover of the pest from these crops.