Entomopathogenic fungi can change the paradigm to control blood-sucking insects: the case of Chagas disease vectors

PEDRINI N.; JUÁREZ M. PATRICIA

Congreso; 45th Annual Meeting of the Society for Invertebrate Pathology. 2012 International Congress on Invertebrate Pathology and Microbial Control.; 2012

Control of disease vectors is mostly based on domiciliary spraying with residual pyrethroid formulations. The rising development of pyrethroid-resistant vector populations that co-habit with humans, i.e. mosquitoes, flies and kissing bugs, urged searching new control alternatives. Among them, the use of entomopathogenic fungi such as Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae have been successfully established, currently representing the sole alternative against pyrethroid-resistant insects. This presentation will focus on the potential use of an “attraction-infection” trap to control Chagas disease vectors, combining a powder formulation of B. bassiana with insect pheromones. The efficacy of this methodology in field trials in the Argentina-Bolivia border will be summarized. Our results show the relevance of the horizontal transmission process to the overall performance of the fungal formulation. A mathematical model is being tested to better understand the population dynamics of fungus-infected bugs, predicting the suitability of this methodology to help controlling the spread of pyrethroid-resistant bugs.