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1 April 2013 Evaluation of Entomopathogenic Fungi Against Chilli Thrips, Scirtothrips dorsalis
Steven Paul Arthurs, Luis Fernando Aristizábal, Pasco Bruce Avery
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Abstract

Commercial strains of entomopathogenic fungi were evaluated for control of chilli thrips, Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), an invasive pest of ornamental and vegetable plants in the Caribbean and southeastern United States. In laboratory assays, LC50 values against adult S. dorsalis were 5.1 × 104 CFU/mL for Beauveria bassiana GHA, with higher values 3.1 × 105 for Metarhizium brunneum F52 and 3.8 × 105 for Isaria fumosorosea Apopka 97. Second instars were comparatively less susceptible to all isolates, ostensibly due to moulting, with LC50 values of 1.1 × 108, 7.0 × 105, and 9.9 × 105 CFU/spores per mL for GHA, F52, and Apopka 97 strains, respectively. In greenhouse cages, compared with controls, three applications of mycoinsecticides and other biorational insecticides at 7 to 14 day intervals reduced overall S. dorsalis populations on pepper plants Capsicum annuum cv. California Wonder: spinosad reduced populations by 94–99%, M. brunneum F52 by 84–93%, B. bassiana GHA by 81–94%, I. fumosorosea PFR-97 by 62–66%, and different horticultural oils by 58–85%. The proportion of marketable fruit was significantly increased by M. brunneum F52, B. bassiana GHA, and 2% SuffOil-X treatments. Slightly lower levels of control were observed in nursery tests with ornamental rose shrubs, Rosa sp. Red Double Knock Out®, during hot sunny conditions. Four applications reduced thrips populations over 10 weeks: spinosad by an average of 91%, M. brunneum F52 by an average of 81%, B. bassiana GHA by an average of 62%, SuffOil-X by an average of 50%, and I. fumosorosea PFR-97 by an average of 44%. The data show that mycoinsecticides can be used in management strategies for low to moderate populations of S. dorsalis and provide resistance management tools for the limited number of insecticides that are effective against this pest.

Copyright : This is an open access paper. We use the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license that permits unrestricted use, provided that the paper is properly attributed.
Steven Paul Arthurs, Luis Fernando Aristizábal, and Pasco Bruce Avery "Evaluation of Entomopathogenic Fungi Against Chilli Thrips, Scirtothrips dorsalis," Journal of Insect Science 13(31), 1-16, (1 April 2013). https://doi.org/10.1673/031.013.3101
Received: 31 January 2012; Accepted: 1 July 2012; Published: 1 April 2013
KEYWORDS
Beauveria bassiana
Isaria fumosorosea
Metarhizium brunneum
Rosa spp.
sweet pepper
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