Fungi Associated with Horse-Chestnut Leaf Miner Moth Cameraria ohridella Mortality

Abstract

The total mortality of the leaf-miner horse-chestnut pest, Cameraria ohridella, collected in nature, and the mortality associated with mycoses were assessed under laboratory conditions in stages: for eggs mortality rates of 9.78% and 61.97% were found, respectively; for caterpillars, 45.25% and 5.59%, respectively; and for pupae 21.22% and 100%, respectively. At the egg stage, Cladosporus cladosporioides caused mycosis most often (27% of all mycoses); at the caterpillar stage there was no pronounced predominant fungus species; at the pupal stage both Cordyceps fumosorosea and Beauveria bassiana (32% and 31%, respectively) were most dominant; whereas at the adult stage Lecanicillum aphanocladii (43%) were most dominant. C. ohridella moths remained the most vulnerable during the pupal and caterpillar stages. Maximum diversity of fungi associated with the leaf-miner moth was reached during the period of development inside the chestnut leaf (Shannon–Wiener index—H′ = 2.608 at the caterpillar stage, H′ = 2.619 at the pupal stage), while the minimum was reached in the adult stage (H′ = 1.757). In the caterpillar and pupa stages, saprophytic fungi were most often recorded. Comparative laboratory tests revealed novel properties of the fungus L. aphanocladii, its effectiveness as the leaf-miner moth‘s entomopathogen and its suitability for field application trials while developing environment-friendly methods for horse-chestnut pest control.

Activity of natural occurring entomopathogenic fungi on nymphal and adult stage ofPhilaenus spumarius

“…Among fungal isolates, L. aphanocladii DSF was considered the most promising strain to be further investigated because i) showed low rates of nymphal survival (43%) and adult emergence (40%), similar to those observed in spittlebugs treated with B. bassiana, a fungal species well recognized as an essential source of myco-pesticides used for numerous insect pest all over the word (Soliman et al, 2022), ii) presented an intense sporulation activity of both conidia and blastospores and iii) is a new species for the biological product market, although already found in nature as an entomopathogenic species (Zhou et al, 2020;Nedveckyte et al, 2021).…”

Discovery of entomopathogenic fungi across geographical regions in southern China on pine sawyer beetle Monochamus alternatus and implication for multi-pathogen vectoring potential of this beetle

“…Fungal isolate Beauveria bassiana , a well-known entomopathogenic fungus, as well as four more fungal isolates with activities reported previously in insects including Clonostachys rosea ( Mohammed et al., 2021 ), L . aphanocladii ( Nedveckytė et al., 2021 ), Pestalotiopsis disseminata ( Lv et al., 2011 ) and Purpureocillium lilacinum ( Panyasiri et al., 2022 ), together with A . austwickii , A .…”

“…Fungal isolate Beauveria bassiana, a well-known entomopathogenic fungus, as well as four more fungal isolates with activities reported previously in insects including Clonostachys rosea (Mohammed et al, 2021), L. aphanocladii (Nedveckytėet al, 2021), Pestalotiopsis disseminata (Lv et al, 2011) and Purpureocillium lilacinum (Panyasiri et al, 2022), together with A. austwickii, A. ruber, L. attenuatum, P. citrinum, S. alboflavescens and T. dorotheae-which were the main species associated with their corresponding M. alternatus populationswere used to evaluate their entomopathogenic activities. In a pilot assay, after 9 days of infection, four fungal species, namely, A. austwickii, B. bassiana, L. attenuatum, and S. alboflavescens showed significantly higher mortality on the model insect beetle T. castaneum than the control (Figure S5; Kruskal-Wallis test; c 10 2 = 25.86, P = 0.0039).…”

Pests and Pathogens of Urban Trees

“…Two other papers deal with the horse chestnut leaf miner (C. ohridella). Nedveckyt ė et al [10] assess the mortality caused by various fungi under laboratory conditions. The study identifies the dominant fungi associated with the different developmental stages of the moth.…”