Pathogenicity and performance of two candidate isolates of Metarhizium anisopliae and Beauveria bassiana (Hypocreales: Clavicipitaceae) in four liquid culture media for the management of the legume pod borer Maruca vitrata (Lepidoptera: Crambidae)

Abstract

Pathogenicity and performance of two candidate isolates of Metarhizium anisopliae and Beauveria bassiana (Hypocreales: Clavicipitaceae) in four liquid culture media for the management of the legume pod borer Maruca vitrata (Lepidoptera: Crambidae)Abstract. The aim of this study was to identify and develop entomopathogenic fungi as biopesticides for management of Maruca vitrata (Fabricius). Fourteen isolates of Metarhizium anisopliae (Metchnikoff) Sorokin and six of Beauveria bassiana (Bals.-Criv.) Vuill. were screened against first instar larvae of M. vitrata. The two most virulent isolates were selected and further tested for production in four liquid media. Different formulations of one isolate were evaluated against different developmental stages. Metarhizium anisopliae ICIPE 18 and ICIPE 69 caused highest larval mortality of 91 and 81%, with lethal time to 50% mortality (LT 50 ) values of 1.8 and 1.7 days and LC 50 of 1.07 £ 10 7 and 3.01 £ 10 6 conidia/ml, respectively. ICIPE 69 yielded more biomass and propagules in two liquid media than ICIPE 18. All developmental stages and adult moths were susceptible to fungal infection and horizontal transmission caused a significant reduction in fecundity. Isolate ICIPE 69 was identified as the most potent isolate for managing M. vitrata based on demonstrated efficacy against different developmental stages and amenability to production in liquid media and could be utilized as an alternative to pesticides in cowpea IPM.

Entomopathogenic fungus isolates for adult Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) management and their compatibility with Tuta pheromone

“…Our results obtained in M. anisopliae ICIPE 18 (100% larval mortality) are also similar to the results of Tumuhaise et al. (2015), who demonstrated that the legume pod borer, Maruca vitrata (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), was highly susceptible to this fungal isolate, causing 91% first instar larval mortality.…”

“…Other laboratory studies have also reported high susceptibility of T. absoluta larval (Mantzoukas, Denaxa, & Lagogiannis, 2019;Tadele & Emana, 2017) and egg stage (Pires, Marques, Oliveira, & Alves, 2010;Rodriguez, Gerding, & France, 2006a) to M. anisopliae. Our results obtained in M. anisopliae ICIPE 18 (100% larval mortality) are also similar to the results of Tumuhaise et al (2015), who demonstrated that the legume pod borer, Maruca vitrata (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera:…”

Effects of Entomopathogenic fungi and Bacillus thuringiensis‐based biopesticides on Spoladea recurvalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae)

“…There was no significant difference in S. recurvalis larval mortality (Inglis et al, 2001;Maniania, 1992), our findings showed that S. recurvalis is moderately susceptible to the same fungal isolate. In addition, these results are opposite to Tumuhaise et al (2015) who demonstrated that the legume pod borer, Maruca vitrata (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), was highly susceptible to M. anisopliae ICIPE 18 that caused 91% larval mortality, S. recurvalis larvae were less susceptible to ICIPE 18 with only 6.7% mortality recorded. The mode of action of EPF involves conidial attachment to the host surface followed by germination and penetration of the host cuticle through a combination of enzymatic activity and mechanical force (Arruda, Lübeck, Schrank, & Vainstein, 2005;Inglis et al, 2012;Quintela & McCoy, 1998).…”

Biopesticide Research and Product Development in Africa for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security – Experiences From the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe)

“…The majority of arthropod pathogenic strains belong to M. anisopliae, and include M. anisopliae strain ICIPE 18 (against T. absoluta, Maruca vitrata, C. partellus and B. fusca) (Maniania, 1993), M. anisopliae strain ICIPE 20 (against T. absoluta and S. frugiperda and the pea leafminer Liriomyza huidobrensis) (Migiro et al, 2010;Mohamed et al, 2017;Akutse et al, 2019a), M. anisopliae strains ICIPE 40, ICIPE 41, ICIPE 315 and ICIPE 655 (against S. frugiperda) (Akutse et al, 2019a), M. anisopliae strain ICIPE 30 (against the amaranth leaf webber Spoladea recurvalis (Opisa et al, 2018(Opisa et al, , 2019; the stemborers C. partellus and B. fusca (Maniania, 1993); the mosquitoes A. gambiae and A. aegypti; the tsetse flies G. morsitans morsitans, G. fuscipes fuscipes and G. pallidipes; and the sand flies Phlebotomus martini and P. duboscqi) (Ngumbi et al, 2011;Ngure et al, 2015); and M. anisopliae strain ICIPE 51 (against the termite Macrotermes michaelseni) (Mburu et al, 2009(Mburu et al, , 2013. In addition, strains that already have been commercialized are being tested against others pests: M. anisopliae strains ICIPE 7 and ICIPE 78 against S. frugiperda (Akutse et al, 2019a); and M. anisopliae strain ICIPE 69 against T. leucotreta (Mkiga et al, 2020) and M. vitrata (Tumuhaise et al, 2015(Tumuhaise et al, , 2018.…”