Muscardine fungi for the biological control of agroforestry termite Odontotermes obesus (Rambur)

Abstract

Among the eight entomopathogenic fungi tested against the termite, Odontotermes obesus (Rambur), five fungal pathogens viz., Beauveria bassiana (Bals.) Vuill,Metarhizium anisopliae (Metsch.) Sorokin var. anisopliae, M.flavoviride Gams Rozsypal var. minus, Paecilomyces lilacinus (Thorn) Samson and P.fumosoroseus (Wize) Brown & Smith, were pathogenic. Three other fungal pathogens viz. Verticillium lecanii Zimm, Paecilomyces farinosus (Holm. ex Gray) and Nomuraea rileyi (Farlow) were not pathogenic. B. bassiana was the most effective pathogen against termites, followed by M. anisopliae, M.flavoviride, P. lilacinus and P.fumosoroseus. Workers minor, of the three morphogenetic forms of O. obesus, were the most susceptible, followed by workers major and soldier caste. Bioassay on isolates of two most virulent termite pathogens, B. bassiana and M. anisopliae revealed that B. bassiana isolate Bapatla was the most effective fungal pathogen with the lowest LC50 (9.98 × 104 conidia/ml)