The anamorph genus Metarhizium is composed of arthropod pathogens, several with broad geographic and host ranges. Members of the genus, including "M. anisopliae var. frigidum" nomen nudum and Metarhizium flavoviride, have been used as biological insecticides. In a recent revision of the genus the variety "M. anisopliae var. frigidum" was suggested to be a synonym of M. flavoviride based largely...

Control of grasshoppers and locusts has traditionally relied on synthetic insecticides, and for emergency situations this is unlikely to change. However, a growing awareness of the environmental issues associated with acridid control as well as the high costs of emergency control are expanding the demand for biological control. In particular, preventive, integrated control strategies with early...

Maternal exposure to an immune challenge can convey enhanced immunity to invertebrate offspring in the next generation. We investigated whether maternal exposure of the Asian longhorned beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis, to two species of the fungus Metarhizium or the bacterium Serratia marcescens elicited transgenerational immune priming (TGIP). We tested specificity of this protection and whet...

Terrestrial plants can harbor endophytic fungi that may induce changes in plant physiology that in turn affect interactions with herbivorous insects. We evaluated whether the application of entomopathogenic fungi Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium brunneum to soybean seeds could become endophytic and affect interactions with soybean aphid (Aphis glycines Matsumura). It was found that A. glycine...

Strains of insect-pathogenic fungi with high virulence toward certain pest insects have great potential for commercial biological control applications. Identifying such strains has been a central theme in using fungi for biological control. This theme is supported by a persistent paradigm in insect pathology which suggests that the host insect is the predominant influence on the population gene...

The beet armyworm Spodoptera exigua (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is difficult to control using chemical insecticides because of the development of insecticide resistance. Several pest control agents are used to control the beet armyworm. Entomopathogenic fungi are one of the candidates for eco-friendly pest control instead of chemical control agents. In this study, among various entomopathogenic fu...

Previous studies have found that Met52®, which contains the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium brunneum, is effective in reducing the abundance of Ixodes scapularis, the tick vector for the bacterium causing Lyme disease and for other tick-borne pathogens. Given widespread interest in effective, safe methods for controlling ticks, Met52 has the potential to be used at increasing scales. The no...

Between October 1999 and April 2000, nearly 4000 ha of nymphal bands and adult swarms of Chortoicetes terminifera (Walker) were aerially treated using a ULV oil formulation of strain FI-985 of Metarhizium anisopliae var. acridum. During the mild weather (maxima 22-30 degrees C) of spring (October), there was little change in nymphal bands during the first week but at all doses between 25-100 g ...

Entomopathogenic fungi are fungi pathogenic to insects and are widely used as biocontrol agents for insect pests. The aim of this research was to study the virulence of Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium sp. isolates and to evaluate the efficacy of liquid production of those fungi against Leptocorisa oratorius (rice bug). Twelve isolates of B. bassiana and five isolates of Metarhizium sp. were ...

In the present study, four fungal isolates (Metarhizium anisopliae) were isolated and examined for their sporulation characteristics and virulence against Coptotermes formosanus. Initially fungal strains were isolated through insect bait (Galleria) method. The mortality was significantly varied between 2 to 4 days. nd th In in this study inspection, the mortality of termites was observed after ...