Synergism of entomopathogenic fungus, Metarhizium anisopliae incorporated with fipronil against oil palm pest subterranean termite, Coptotermes curvignathus

Abstract

Yii J.E., Bong C.F.J., King J.H.P., Kadir J. (2016): Synergism of entomopathogenic fungus, Metarhizium anisopliae incorporated with fipronil against oil palm pest subterranean termite, Coptotermes curvignathus. Plant Protect. Sci., 52: 35-44.The compatibility and synergy in efficacy of the termiticide fipronil with a biocontrol agent Metarhizium anisopliae, alone or in combination, against the subterranean termite, Coptotermes curvignathus were investigated. Sublethal doses of fipronil were found relatively less detrimental to fungal growth of M. anisopliae local isolates in a compatibility test. The fungus-insecticide bait formulation showed the greatest synergistic effect that increased termite mortality as well as reduced the lethal time at a sublethal dose of 0.05 mg a.i./l fipronil with conidia concentrations of 10 7 conidia/g bait (χ² = 48.80) at LT 50 value of 6.46 days, followed by 10 8 conidia/g bait (χ² = 5.09) at LT 50 value of 4.89 days compared to the use of these control agents alone. The insecticidal stress caused by sublethal fipronil in the formulated bait may weaken the termites and reduce their defence mechanism, which facilitates fungus infection on termites. The observed synergism treatments show the potential for integrated fungus-insecticide control method and need to be further investigated on termite infested oil palm trees.

Economic and ecological importance of termites: A global review

“…Termite damage of oil palm caused by Coptotermes curvignathus Holmgren in the long term will result in a significant loss in palm stand (Yii et al . ).…”

“…Termite damage is a critical problem in agriculture in Indonesia and Malaysia, which are the two main palm oil producers in the world. Termite damage of oil palm caused by Coptotermes curvignathus Holmgren in the long term will result in a significant loss in palm stand (Yii et al 2016).…”

Lethal and sublethal effects of synthetic and bio-insecticides onTrichogramma brassicaeparasitizingTuta absoluta

“…To categorize the binary relationship between different control agents, in antagonistic, additive or synergistic category, a modified method of Koppenhöfer and Kaya [50] by Yii, et al [51] was adopted. This method is based on testing discrepancy of the observed mortality from an expected mortality calculated as ME = MC + MB (1 -MC/100) by using a chi-square test (df = .…”

Análisis de las investigaciones sobre Metarhizium anisopliae en los últimos 40 años

“…Debido a las pérdidas significativas en los cultivos anuales y perennes y daños, se han adoptado diferentes métodos de control como control físico, químico y biológico (Wright et al, 2005). El control químico ha sido un método exitoso para prevenir el ataque de termitas, pero los métodos biológicos resultan alternativas adecuadas (Verma et al, 2009), especialmente cuando se busca reducir el uso de químicos que dañen el ambiente y a la salud humana (Yii et al, 2016).…”

“…Una investigación previa encontró que M. anisopliae causa un porcentaje de entre 71-84% de infecciones en termitas después de 15 días de tratamiento (Kin et al, 2017). Otros estudios se han enfocado en temas como: La tasa de mortalidad según diferentes concentraciones de conidios por ml (Samsuddin et al, 2015;Riaz et al, 2017;Keppanan et al, 2018), su compatibilidad con algunos pesticidas (Yii et al, 2016) o su efecto en otras especies cuando se utiliza para el control de termitas (Abonyo et al, 2016).…”