Between-season survival of the grasshopper pathogen Metarhizium flavoviride in the Sahel

A study is presented showing that the entomopathogenic fungus, Metarhizium flavoviride, can persist in fragments of infected grasshopper cadaver and survive the Sahelian dry season. A significant positive relationship was identified between the probability of mortality at the beginning of one season and the density of infected cadavers present in the habitat at the end of the previous season. Furthermore, survival analysis revealed a steady decline in the mean survival time of grasshoppers exposed to the infected habitats as the density of infected cadavers used to seed the habitat increased. The consequences of these findings are discussed in the context of the use of M. flavoviride for locust and grasshopper control.