Biosafety of oil formulation of Beauveria bassiana (Bb 112) to Chrysoperla zastrowi sillemi

Abstract

Aphis gossypii, Bemisia tabaci, Thrips tabaci are important sucking pests of horticultural crops. Fungal pathogen, Beauveria bassiana is known to cause high infection in sucking pest populations. The present investigation was undertaken to evaluate the safety of oil formulation of fungal pathogen B. bassiana (Bb 112) available at the Department of Agricultural Entomology, TNAU, Coimbatore against the eggs and grubs of Chrysoperla zastrowi sillemi under laboratory condition. The safety studies of B. bassiana to the eggs of C. zastrowi sillemi revealed that egg hatchability was 66.88 per cent in the highest dose of Bb 112 (108 spores m1-1) and per cent hatchability increased with lower doses of Bb 112. In case of grubs, survival was 95.71 per cent at 104 spores m1-1 and it declined with increased spore load. Further research should focus on development of efficient mass production systems, formulation, and delivery systems of fungal pathogens.