Laboratory evaluation of entomopathogenic fungi as biological control agents against the bark beetle Pityogenes scitus Blandford (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in Kashmir

The bark beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) are widely recognised as one of the most damaging group of forest pests. Entomopathogenic fungi have shown great potential for the management of some bark beetle species. The efficacy of three entomopathogenic fungi, namely, Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin, Metarhizium anisopliae sensu lato (Metchnikoff) Sorokin and Lecanicillium lecanii (Zimmerman) Zare and Gams was tested against the bark beetle Pityogenes scitus Blandford under the laboratory conditions. An insecticide – cyclone 505 EC, was also used as positive control in the experiment. Each fungal suspension contained 1.0×109 spores of fungi in 1 ml. In treated branches, B. bassiana and M. anisopliae caused higher percentage of mortalities, that is, 58.33% and 48%, respectively, after 10 days of treatment and 85% and 71%, respectively, after 20 days of treatment. In petri plate assay, B. bassiana, M. anisopliae and L. lecanii caused 100%, 100% and 73.33% of mortality respectively. The percentage of mortality caused by treated insecticide was 79.16%. The results obtained in the present study are promising; however, no recommendations concerning the potential use of these fungal pathogens in forest protection can be given, and further research studies are needed in this respect, especially under field conditions.