Pathogenicity of Beauveria bassiana strains against Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae)

Abstract

The biological control (BC) is an efficient tool in helping to reduce pests in crops of economic interest. In addition to the efficiency, there are advantages in using biological control agents, such as human safety and other non-target organisms and decreasing pesticide residues. The general aim of this work was to evaluate in vitro the pathogenicity power of fifteen Beauveria bassiana strains aiming the biological control of Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura, 1931). Successful infection of entomopathogenic fungi depends primarily on the adherence and penetration ability of a fungus to the host integuments. In addition, scanning electron microscopy was realized. To verify the spore adherence after the spraying tests, insects were collected throughout the bioassays in order to confirm spore evolution on the insect cuticle. In this work, D. suzukii adults were not susceptible to the aqueous suspensions of conidia at concentrations of 108 spores·mL−1 of these strains. There wasn’t death confirmed by fungus extrusion after maintenance in humid chamber.