Abstract
Carpophilus beetles are serious pests of Australian fruit and nut crops, causing significant damage through adult and larval feeding and vectoring plant diseases. Six strains of the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana ((Balsamo) Vuillemin; Hypocreales: Cordycipitaceae), isolated from a range of hosts in Australia, together with one commercial strain, were screened for virulence to adult and larval stages of Carpophilus attacking stone fruits (C. davidsoni (Dobson)) and almonds (C. truncatus (Murray)) under laboratory conditions. The two species differed significantly in their susceptibility to the B. bassiana isolates. In the adult beetle assay, C. truncatus had a maximum Abbott’s control corrected mortality of 19% when treated with the most effective isolate, B54, compared to 52% for C.davidsoni. In larval bioassays, mortality rates for the two species were generally higher than adults: four isolates caused greater than 80% mortality in C. davidsoni; while only one isolate was considered effective against C. truncatus (causing 73% mortality), all other isolates caused less than 40% mortality. The results indicate promising potential for B. bassiana to be applied as a biopesticide as part of an integrated pest management strategy, which might take the form of a soil application against larvae or an autodissemination program using adult beetles.
Highlights
Almonds and stone fruits are high value crops in Australian domestic and international markets.In the 2019/20 season, Australia produced 104,437 tonnes of almond kernels, with an export value of A$772.6 million [1], in the 2018/19 season 23,013 tonnes of stone fruit worth over A$88 million [2].Carpophilus beetles can cause significant levels of economic damage to fruit and nut produce, both through direct adult and larval feeding and through vectoring bacterial and fungal rot [3]
Carpophilus davidsoni is an Australian pest of stone fruit crops that can cause considerable loss of revenue through pre-harvest damage to ripening fruits and increased post-harvest spoilage [5,6]
The control of Carpophilus beetles in orchards utilises integrated pest management (IPM), employing a toolkit of complimentary management practices that work in combination to lower population levels to below target thresholds for economic damage [7,8]
Summary
Carpophilus beetles can cause significant levels of economic damage to fruit and nut produce, both through direct adult and larval feeding and through vectoring bacterial and fungal rot [3]. Carpophilus truncatus has recently emerged as the primary insect pest of Australian almonds, with reports of up to 10% loss of kernels and loss to revenue that can exceed A$20 million annually [4]. Carpophilus davidsoni is an Australian pest of stone fruit crops that can cause considerable loss of revenue through pre-harvest damage to ripening fruits and increased post-harvest spoilage [5,6]. The control of Carpophilus beetles in orchards utilises integrated pest management (IPM), employing a toolkit of complimentary management practices that work in combination to lower population levels to below target thresholds for economic damage [7,8]. Population suppression of C. truncatus follows an IPM strategy that relies on orchard hygiene, with labour intensive destruction of residual “mummy” nuts (nuts that remain on the tree after harvest) as one of the most important factors [4]
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