Following the first detection of tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) from Réunion (700 km east of Madagascar) in 1997 and the upsurge of Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) on vegetable crops, two genetic types of B. tabaci were distinguished using RAPT-PCR and cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene sequence comparisons. One type was assigned to biotype B and the other was genetically dissimilar to the populations described elsewhere and was named Ms, after the Mascarenes Archipelago. This new genetic type forms a distinct group that is sister to two other groups, one to which the B biotype is a member and one to which the Q biotype belongs. The Ms biotype is thought to be indigenous to the region as it was also detected in Mauritius, the Seychelles and Madagascar. Both B and Ms populations of B. tabaci induced silverleaf symptoms on Cucurbita sp., and were able to acquire and transmit TYLCV. Taken together these results indicate that the Ms genetic type should be considered a new biotype of B. tabaci.