Cotton leaf curl virus (CLCuV) is a group of whitefly transmitted Gemini viruses that has a complex etiology. CLCuV is transmitted by Bemisia tabaci vector in a circulative, persistent manner and can be retained in its vector from few days to entire life period. The effect of plant viruses on their vector is a key to the understanding geminiviruses epidemiology and developing effective control measures. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the performance of B tabaci on cotton leaf curl virus (CLCuV) infected and healthy plants of cotton to determine the effect CLCuV on life history parameters and settling preference of B. tabaci on cotton plants. Egg, nymph and pupal duration, adult longevity, fecundity and settling preference of B. tabaci was compared on 5, 20 and 35 days old virus source and healthy plants of cotton of same age. Mean nymphal and pupal duration was significantly reduced on CLCuV infected plants. Both female and male adults of B. tabaci survived longer on healthy plants than CLCuV infected plants. Female whiteflies survived longer than the males whiteflies on healthy as well as CLCuV infected plants. Whiteflies deposited significantly lower number of eggs on virus infected cotton plants than healthy plants, however, egg hatchabilty and duration of egg stage remained unaffected. Whiteflies preferred healthy plants compared with CLCuV infected plants. Differences were more evident on 35 days old virus source compared with 5 and 20 day old virus source plants.