Bioassay test of Beauveria bassiana alginate pellet formulation on mortality of Spodoptera frugiperda in the laboratory

Abstract

The attack level of Spodoptera frugiperda greatly influences the production of maize in the field. The use of insecticides for control certainly has many negative impacts so that they switch to more environmentally friendly controls. One of them uses the entomopathogenic fungus (EPF) Beuvaria bassiana which has the ability to aggressively paralyze insect larvae and imago that are affected by its spores. The B. bassiana can be mass produced in both solid and liquid media. The aim of this study was to test the effectiveness of the B. bassiana alginatepellet formulation on spore density and mortality of Spodoptera frugiperda test larvae in the laboratory. The efficacy test of the formulation on the test insects was carried out by dipping the test larvae feed into the B. bassiana alginate pellet suspension in each treatment using 50third instar of larvae. Corn had an effect on the spore density of B. bassiana alginate pellets, the highest spore density with conidia density of 2.35x108 conidia/mlwas found in the wheat flour treatment as well as with the highest percentage of mortality of Spodoptera frugiperda larvae, namely on day 6-9 DAA (days after application) in a row of 60%, 68% and 70%. In addition, it can be concluded that the alginate pellet formulation made from the active entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana is effective in controlling the population of Spoduptura frugiperda larvae.