Commercial formulation of Metarhizium anisopliae for the control of Rhipicephalus microplus in a pen study

Abstract

The present study evaluated, for the first time, the effect of the commercial formulation Metarril(®) SP Organic of Metarhizium anisopliae plus 10% mineral oil to control Rhipicephalus microplus in a pen study. Three groups were formed with six animals each: the first group was exposed to Metarril(®) plus 10% mineral oil and 1% Tween 80; the second group was exposed to sterile distilled water, mineral oil and Tween 80 (oil control group); and the third group received no treatment (control group). The fungal formulation contained 1 × 10(8)conidiaml(-1). Each animal was sprayed with 3L of formulation. Fallen ticks were counted daily and a sample of 20 engorged females per day was incubated for assessment of biological parameters. Throughout the study period, Metarril(®) oil-based formulation showed an efficacy ranging from 19.20% to 67.39% in comparison with the control group; and from 8.18% to 61.38% in comparison with the oil control group. The average efficacy of Metarril(®) oil-based formulation was 47.74% and 40.89% in comparison with control and oil control groups, respectively. Changes in the biological parameters of engorged R. microplus females were observed in the first three days after treatment, with a significant reduction in hatching percentage and egg production index. We concluded that Metarril(®) SP Organic plus 10% mineral oil was efficient against R. microplus in pen studies. However, further in vivo studies are required to increase the efficacy and to establish a protocol for the use of this product in the field against the cattle tick.

Metarhizium anisopliae for controlling Rhipicephalus microplus ticks under field conditions

“…Through establishing an ideal number of treatment baths for cattle using fungal formulations, and an ideal interval between treatments, it ought to be possible to increase the efficacy of the product and maintain the tick population at an acceptable level. In assessing the product Metarril SP Organic plus mineral oil against cattle ticks in a pen study, Camargo et al (2014) observed average efficacy of 47.74% from a single treatment applied to the animals. In the present study, the same fungal formulation was used, in field tests comprising two treatments applied to cattle, and average efficacy of 75.09% was achieved.…”

“…A decrease in the average number of ticks on the cattle in the Oil Control group, compared with the animals in the Control group, was observed in this study. Deleterious effects on ticks caused by different oils had previously been reported (Camargo et al, 2012(Camargo et al, , 2014Samish et al, 2014). It is believed that the oils interfere with the physiology of arthropods, through penetrating into tissues and causing cell death, locomotor disability and dehydration (Najar-Rodríguez et al, 2008), and also through interfering in the breathing of the arthropods.…”

“…The present study was developed through motivation from the results found by Camargo et al (2014). In assessing the oil-based formulation of Metarril SP Organic, a product based on M. anisopliae fungus, against cattle ticks in a pen-based study, these authors concluded that this oil-based fungal formulation might be an important tool for controlling R. microplus ticks, and that studies in the field using more than one treatment would be beneficial for increasing the effectiveness of this product for tick control under natural conditions.…”

Proteomics as a tool for tapping potential of entomopathogens as microbial insecticides

“…EPF is applied in insect pest management as mycoinsecticides; a type of insecticide containing live fungi (Usta, ). B. bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae are well‐studied EPFs that have been formulated and commercialized as mycoinsecticides known as Botanigard® (http://www.bioworksinc.com) and Metarril ® (Camargo et al, ), respectively. Furthermore, toxic secondary metabolites such as detruxins, beauvericin, and bassiacridin isolated from EPF showed promising results for the incorporation into pesticide formulations (Butt, Coates, Dubovskiy, & Ratcliffe, ; Samuels et al, ).…”

Mode of Infection of Metarhizium spp. Fungus and Their Potential as Biological Control Agents

“…Pests such as locusts, grasshoppers, termites, and cattle ticks have caused huge economic and agricultural losses in many parts of the world such as China, Japan, Australia, Malaysia, Africa, Brazil, and Mexico [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. Vectors of malaria, dengue, and Bancroftian filariasis , which are Aedes spp., Anopheles spp., and Culex spp.…”