Evaluation of two Metarhizium anisopliae for control of drill Paraguay tea Hedypathes betulinus (Klug) (Coleoptera: Cerammbicidae)

SCHAPOVALOFF, MARIA ELENA; FANTI, ANDRÉ LUIS; ALVES, LUIS FRANCISCO; URRUITIA, MARIA INÉS; LÓPEZ LASTRA, CLAUDIA

Buenos Aires

Congreso; 45TH Annual Meeting of the Society for Invertebrate Pathology; 2012

Society for Invertebrate Pathology

The drill or tiger of Paraguay tea Hedypathes betulinus (Klug, 1825) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) is one of themain pests of cultivation Paraguay tea (Ilex paraguariensis St. Hil.,1822), which causes severe damages and huge economical loss. It was evaluated under laboratory conditions the pathogenicity of two Metarhizium anisopliae CEP 349 and CEP 350, of H. betulinus adults. Adult insects ofH. betulinus were immersed in conidialsuspensions of 1x108 conidia/ml. Subsequently, the insects were individualized in plastic containerscontaining a branch of Paraguay tea and maintained under controlled conditions (26 ± 1 ° C, photophase of 14 and 70% relative humidity). The evaluations were done every day for a period of 15 days, determining the percentage of dead insects. The isolates of M. anisopliae proved to be pathogenic on H. betulinus and mortality values ​​were confirmed over 70%, showing the maximum value in CEP 350 (83.33%) and the minimum value in CEP 349 (70%). Subsequently we determined the median lethal time (LT50) of the population of H. betulinus in the range of 7.41 to 7.92 days.