New Approach of Beauveria bassiana to Control the Red Palm Weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) by Trapping Technique

Abstract

This work is the first study to investigate the efficacy of the commercial formulation of Beauveria bassiana (Broadband) to control adults of red palm weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier)). This fungus could be applied as one of the biological tactics in controlling red palm weevil. Bioassay experiments for medium lethal concentrate and medium time to cause death of 50% of red palm weevil adults were carried out. The result showed that the LC50 of B. bassiana (Broadband) was 2.19×10(7) and 2.76×10(6) spores/ml at 9 and 23 d of treatment, respectively. The LT50 was 13.95 and 4.15 d for concentration of 1×10(7) and 1×10(8) spores/ml, respectively, whereas 1×10(9) spores/ml caused 100% mortality after 24 h. Additionally, a red palm weevil pheromone trap was designed to attract the adults to be contaminated with spores of Broadband, which was applied to the sackcloth fabric that coated the internal surfaces of the bucket trap. The mating behavior was studied to determine direct and indirect infection of the spores from male to female and vice versa. The results showed a high efficacy of Broadband suspension at 1×10(9) spores/ml; 40 ml of suspension at this concentration treated to cloth in a trap caused death of contaminated adults with B. bassiana spores directly and indirectly. The 100% mortality was obtained even after 13 d of traps treatment with 40 ml of the suspension at 1×10(9) spores/ml.

Isolation, Molecular Identification and under Lab Evaluation of the Entomopathogenic Fungi <i>M. anisopliae</i> and <i>B. bassiana</i> against the Red Palm Weevil <i>R. ferrugineus</i> in Gaza Strip

“…These results supported by Hajjar, et al 2015 [37]. The pathogenic efficacy of the indirect infection was high, as all the indirectly infected insects of both sexes were killed af- Recently (Llacer, et al 2012) [38], advanced the possibility of using sterile irradiated males as a vector of B. bassiana for microbiological control of R. ferrugineus.…”

Development of an attract‐and‐infect system to control Rhynchophorus ferrugineus with the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana

“…The use of entomopathogenic fungi in attract‐and‐infect traps has been developed for several pests including dipterans, such as fruit flies, leafminers and tsetse flies, coleopterans, such as palm weevils, and lepidopterans . Our work describes an AID for controlling R. ferrugineus .…”

“…In contrast, the new AID maintains conidial viability at >50% for at least 8 weeks. More recently, Hajjar and Ajlan tested bucket traps covered with rough sackcloth soaked with a commercial oil‐based formulation of B. bassiana . High infection rates of weevils and horizontal transmission occurred, but only for 13 days.…”

“…The use of attract‐and‐infect devices (AIDs) is probably the most efficient way to spread the inoculum of the fungus by horizontal transmission to other individuals, including those in already infested palms. Several researchers have tried to develop this type of device for use against R. ferrugineus . However, their efficacy in field trials has not yet been demonstrated.…”

“…Several researchers have tried to develop this type of device for use against R. ferrugineus. 18,19 However, their efficacy in field trials has not yet been demonstrated. The main objectives of this study were (1) to develop an effective autoinoculation system and (2) to evaluate the efficacy of this AID in field conditions.…”