Effects onMeccus pallidipennis(Hemiptera: Reduviidae) Eggs Exposed to Entomopathogenic Fungi: Exploring Alternatives to Control Chagas Disease

Interaction of the nematophagous fungus Pochonia chlamydosporia on eggs of Spartocera dentiventris (Berg) (Hemiptera: Coreidae) under laboratory conditions

“…However, the exacerbated use of pesticides in tobacco crops is a fact that requires attention, mainly due to the direct risk for the health of peaple involved in tobacco farming, as well as to the environment and to preserve the large entomological biodiversity present in tobacco farming (Silva et al, 2005). In this sense, methods of biological control of pest insects is warranted (Flores-Villegas et al, 2019).…”

“…Spartocera dentiventris eggs were obtained from fertilized females kept in the laboratory and stored in an oven at 28 °C and 60% humidity, according to the methodology proposed by Flores-Villegas et al (2019). The nematophagous fungus Pochonia chlamydosporia (VC4) comes from Brazilian soil and has been maintained in the Veterinary Parasitology laboratory of the Federal University of Viçosa (Braga et al, 2013).…”

“…P. chlamydosporia is not an entomopathogenic fungus, but the interaction and colonization of S. dentiventris eggs was observed in the present study. The literature has mentioned that entomopathogenic fungi have been used in laboratory and field experiments to control arthropods (Flores-Villegas et al, 2019). P. chlamydosporia belongs to the same clade as the entomopathogenic fungi Metarhizium spp.…”

Isolation of Beauveria bassiana Pr-11 from Andean orthopterans and its effectiveness against Chagas disease vectors in Peru

“…While the use of non-pyrethroid insecticides such as imidacloprid and fenitrothion has been proposed as alternatives to control pyrethroid-resistant T. infestans populations (Carvajal et al, 2014;Germano et al, 2014), these have a negative impact on the environment. The use of entomopathogenic fungi represent an environmentally-friendly and costeffective strategy, which application is simple (Pedrini et al, 2009) and effective to control different stages of triatomine bugs (Flores-Villegas et al, 2019). The efficacy of Beauveria bassiana (Bassi, 1835) as a biocontrol agent for Triatoma infestans (Klug, 1834) has been previously reported (Lecuona et al, 2001;Luz et al, 2004;Pedrini et al, 2009;Forlani et al, 2011), but performance depended on environmental conditions, such as humidity (Luz et al, 2004).…”

Coinfection by Trypanosoma cruzi and a fungal pathogen increases survival of Chagasic bugs: advice against a fungal control strategy

“…Several studies have been conducted with different pathogen agents for the biological control of bugs (de Fuentes-Vicente et al ., 2018). One of such pathogens is the fungus Metarhizium anisopliae , which penetrates the insect cuticle, suppressing its immune response and causing a high mortality (Flores-Villegas et al ., 2016, 2018). Only one study has considered the combined effects of co-infection by T. cruzi and other pathogens used as control agents (Garcia et al ., 2016).…”