AbstractOnly one isolate of Metarhizium flavoviride Gams and Roszypal group 3 has been isolated from a field-infected acridid in Australia. This is isolate FI985 (ARSEF 324) obtained from a spur-throated locust, Austracris guttulosa (Walker), near Rockhampton, Queensland, in 1979. In terms of conidial size and shape as well as phialide morphology, FI985 is intermediate between Metarhizium anisopliae (Metschnikoff) Sorokin and M. flavoviride. It has been compared with other group 3 isolates using RAPDs and sequence analysis of the ITS region and found to be very similar. However the analysis shows that these group 3 isolates are genetically closer to M. anisopliae than to M. flavoviride sensu stricto. Laboratory bioassays have shown that FI985 is virulent for five species of acridid pests in Australia. Comparative bioassays with other isolates of Metarhizium, including other group 3 isolates from Africa and Asia, have not yet revealed any isolate more virulent than FI985. This isolate is amenable to mass-production on rice and has been formulated in oil as a mycoinsecticide. The results from six field tests, mostly against wingless grasshopper, Phaulacridium vittatum (SjÖstedt), using doses of 2–7 × 1012 conidia per hectare and plot sizes up to 50 ha are summarized. These trials (with the exception of the first against the Australian plague locust) have given high levels of disease-related mortality in caged samples of the target collected within 3 days of spraying. In the four trials with wingless grasshopper, population reductions were detected 10–30 days after application; however these reductions were much less than suggested by cage samples as a result of movement of the target acridids. In contrast, positive control plots sprayed with fenitrothion gave a very high initial kill (>90% in 1 day) but were then more rapidly reinvaded. Consequently, 3–4 weeks after spraying the density in the plots treated with chemical insecticide and those treated with mycoinsecticide were similar. Further field trials are needed especially against the Australian plague locust and evaluating lower doses. The results obtained to date show that a mycoinsecticide based on FI985 is likely to be effective over a wide range of target acridids and weather conditions.