Efficacy of Entomopathogenic Fungi against Fall Armyworm (FAW) in Laboratory Conditions

Abstract

Fall armyworm (FAW) is most dangerous pest of maize crops and distributed widely in various countries of the world especially tropical and subtropical regions, resulting threat to food security. The efficacy of Metarhizium anisopliae and Beauveria bassiana were checked against 2nd instar larvae of FAW under controlled conditions. The results showed that among tested entomopathogenic fungi, B. bassiana was found more toxic than M. anisopliae. B. bassiana caused highest larval mortality than M. anisopliae. In the current study, B. bassiana and M. anisopliae caused 68.89% and 53.85% larval mortality, respectively. M. anisopliae and B. bassiana demonstrated LT50 values of 80.54 h and 83.32 h, respectively. Additionally, the LC50 values for M. anisopliae and B. bassiana were determined to be 1.4×107 and 1.5×107 spores/ml, respectively. Entomopathogenic fungi can give effective control against pest and further studies are needed to check the efficacy against older instars under field and laboratory conditions.