Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) biotype B is a highly prolific and polyphagous whitefly that established in much of North America during the 1980s. Neonicotinoid insecticides have been fundamental in regaining control over outbreak populations of B. tabaci, but resistance threatens their sustainability. Susceptibility of B. tabaci in the southwestern United States to four neonicotinoid insecticides varied considerably across populations within each year over a 3 yr period. Using a variability ratio of highest LC₅₀ to lowest LC₅₀ in field-collected whitefly adults from Arizona and California, the ranges of LC₅₀s across all tests within compounds were highest to imidacloprid and lowest to thiamethoxam. Patterns of susceptibility were similar among all four neonicotinoid insecticides, but the greater variability in responses to imidacloprid and significantly higher LC₅₀s attained indicated higher resistance levels to imidacloprid in all field populations. Further evidence of differential toxicities of neonicotinoids was observed in multiple tests of dinotefuran against imidacloprid-resistant lab strains that yielded significant differences in the LC₅₀s of dinotefuran and imidacloprid in simultaneous bioassays. To test the possibility that resistance expression in field-collected insects was sometimes masked by stressful conditions, field strains cultured in a greenhouse without insecticide exposure produced significantly higher LC₅₀s to all neonicotinoids compared with LC₅₀s attained directly from the field. In harsh climates such as the American southwest, resistance expression in field-collected test insects may be strongly influenced by environmental stresses such as high temperatures, overcrowding, and declining host plant quality.