Bioassays of <i>Beauveria bassiana</i> Isolates against the Fall Armyworm, <i>Spodoptera frugiperda</i>
Atif Idrees | Ayesha Afzal | Ziyad Abdul Qadir | Jun Li
The control of <i>Spodoptera frugiperda</i>, the key invasive pest of maize, is a serious concern due to its biology and the current global restriction on applying synthetic pesticides. Entomopathogenic fungi are considered to be a potential biological control strategy. The pathogenicity of 12 isolates of <i>Beauveria bassiana</i> in the immature stages and feeding efficacy of <i>S. frugiperda</i> were evaluated. The <i>B. bassiana</i> isolates QB-3.45, QB-3.46 and QB-3.428 caused the highest egg mortality rates of 87.3, 82.7 and 79.3%, respectively, when applied at a concentration of 1 × 10<sup>8</sup> conidia/mL and measured at 7 days post-treatment. Neonate mortality rates of 45.6 to 53.6% were observed with the same isolates. The <i>B. bassiana</i> isolates caused significant cumulative mortality rates ranging from 71.3 to 93.3% at 14 days post-treatment and reduced larval feeding efficacy from 69.4 to 77.8% at 48 h post-treatment. This study supports using the effective <i>B. bassiana</i> isolates as a biological control agent against <i>S. frugiperda.</i> The significant mortality of the eggs and neonatal larvae and the reduction in the feeding efficacy of the second instar larvae of the <i>S. frugiperda</i> that were treated with isolates of <i>B. bassiana</i> supports the application of entomopathogenic fungi as a biocontrol agent for the effective control of the <i>S. frugiperda</i> population.
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