Lethal Concentration and Sporulation by Contact and Direct Spray of the Entomopathogenic Fungus <i>Beauveria bassiana</i> on Different Stages of <i>Nezara viridula</i> (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae)

oleh: Maribel Portilla, Minling Zhang, James Paul Glover, Gadi V. P. Reddy, Chris Johnson

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2022-11-01

Deskripsi

The southern green stink bug, <i>Nezara viridula</i> (L.) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) is the most significant pest of soybean worldwide. The present study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of a Delta native strain NI8 of <i>Beauveria bassiana</i> by contact and direct spray on nymphs (2nd to 5th instar) and adults of <i>N. viridula</i>. Water control and four concentrations of <i>B. bassiana</i> were used to evaluate the survival, mortality, and molting percentage and to estimate median lethal concentration (LC<sub>50</sub>), median lethal sporulation (LS<sub>50</sub>), and resistance ratio (RR<sub>50</sub>). Direct spray at all concentrations observed the greatest reduction in survival on all life stages. Mortality and sporulation were positively correlated by concentration, while molting was highly variable with a significantly lower negative correlation on insects that were directly sprayed. Pathogenicity exhibited reduction as young stages developed and emerged to adult. The LC<sub>50</sub> (Contact: 612 spores/mm<sup>2</sup>; Direct spray: 179 spores/mm<sup>2</sup>) and LS<sub>50</sub> (Contact: 1960 spores/mm<sup>2</sup> Spray: 3.3 × 10<sup>6</sup>) values showed that adults of <i>N. viridula</i> were highly resistant than any other life stage when exposed to either contact or direct spray. Fourth instar was the most susceptible (LC<sub>50</sub>: Contact: 18 spores/mm<sup>2</sup>; Direct spray: 23 spores/mm<sup>2</sup>) (LS<sub>50</sub>: Contact: 53 spores/mm<sup>2</sup>; Direct spray: 26 spores/mm<sup>2</sup>) followed by second, third, and fifth instars.