Studies on the virulence of different isolates of Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin and Metarhizium anisopliae (Metcsn.) Sorokin against Mediterranean flour moth, Ephestia kuehniella Zeller (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)

• Published in: African journal of agricultural research Vol. 8; no. 30; pp. 4157 - 4161
• Main Authors: Faraji, Somayeh, Mehrvar, Ali, Shadmehri, Ali Derakhshan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lagos Academic Journals 08.08.2013
• Subjects: Fungi; Insects; Pest control; Pesticides; Plant sciences; Science and Technology
• ISSN: 1991-637X

Virulence of ten fungal isolates of entomopathogenic fungi, Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin and Metarhizium anisopliae (Metcsn.) Sorokin against third instar larvae of Mediterranean flour moth, Ephestia kuehniella Zeller, was tested under laboratory conditions. These isolates were originated from soil by using Galleria mellonella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) as a live insect bait. All isolates were inoculated by immersing the insects in 10 ml of a fungal suspension for 5 s. The experiments carried out with 3 replications and 10 larvae were used for each replication.Cumulative mortality after treatment varied from 11 to 92% in M. anisopliae and in B. bassiana from 17 to 88%. The increase of dose and exposure interval increased mortality. LC50 values ranged from 8.3 * 105 to 6.5 * 106 for B. bassiana and from 5.4*107 to 3.4*108 for M. anisopliae. Among the isolates evaluated in the study, C-IIA7 isolate of B. bassiana had the lowest LC50.The LT50 values for these isolates varied from 107 to 154 h for B. bassiana and from 93 to 162 h for M. anisopliae, whereas, B-VM1 isolate of M. anisopliae, recorded the least LT50 of 93 h. Our results demonstrated that the entomopathogenic fungi could be used as an alternative for the control of stored products pests in IPM programs. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]