Effectiveness of Beauveria bassiana Vuill. isolate on various culture media and its pathogenicity against Tribolium castaneum

Abstract

One of the selected microbes that has been widely used for production of bioinsecticides is B. bassiana. The fungus is very effective in suppressing larvae of pest insects Lepidoptera and Coleoptera. However, data on the potential of B. bassiana as bioinsecticides against Coleoptera are not widely available in Indonesia. This study aims to determine the effectiveness of B. bassiana against warehouse pests from Coleoptera Tribolium castaneum. Culture of B. bassiana on Potato Dextrose Agar media was propagated on corn media, corn liquid media, PDA media, and rice media. Tribolium castaneum test insects are derived from the remains of rice mills and then kept until imago lay eggs and have a uniform age. Then B. Bassiana was applied to Tribolium castaneum. Observations were made every 24 hours on the mortality of Tribolium castaneum. The results showed that rice media is the best media used for propagation of Beauveria bassiana when viewed from spore density where the average spore density is 12.53 X 106. The fungus isolates that were propagated using liquid corn media, rice media, and corn media were the best isolates that could be used to kill T. castaneum pest in warehouse.