TY - JOUR
T1 - Efficacy of BotaniGard® against the mushroom phorid fly Megaselia halterata
AU - Andreadis, Stefanos S.
AU - Cloonan, Kevin R.
AU - Bellicanta, Giovani S.
AU - Jenkins, Nina E.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by USDA grant numbers 2012-51181-19912, 2017-51300-26818 and 2017-3438-27261 (subaward 6187-NER17BB-Jenkins). Additional funding was provided by the Penn State Mushroom Research Competitive Grants Program (Giorgio Endowment Funds). We would like to thank Jason Woolcott for his assistance in rearing of M. halterata.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Megaselia halterata (Wood) (Diptera: Phoridae) is a major pest of cultivated white button mushrooms, Agaricus bisporus (J.E.Lange) Emil J. Imbach (Agaricales: Agaricaceae), in the United States. The incidence and severity of M. halterata have been increasing in recent years, possibly due to the removal of certain chemical pesticides from tolerance by the EPA. Farmers’ demand for alternative control measures resulted in a label extension of the fungal biopesticide BotaniGard® ES, which contains viable spores of Beauveria bassiana (GHA strain), for use in mushroom crops. Here we describe laboratory bioassays to evaluate the efficacy of the label recommended dose of the abovementioned commercial biopesticide for control of immature and adult stages of M. halterata. According to our results, eggs and larvae of M. halterata were not susceptible to infection by B. bassiana whereas pupae displayed a partial susceptibility with mortality reaching up to 65%. Concerning adults of M. halterata exposure for 60 min to a paper surface sprayed with the registered label application rate of BotaniGard® ES led to 100% mortality within a period of 16 days and a mean survival time of 8.13 days, which differed significantly from the control batch, but unlikely to result in meaningful control of phorid populations in the field. Further studies should be examined to increase efficacy of the formulated product against immature and adult stages of M. halterata.
AB - Megaselia halterata (Wood) (Diptera: Phoridae) is a major pest of cultivated white button mushrooms, Agaricus bisporus (J.E.Lange) Emil J. Imbach (Agaricales: Agaricaceae), in the United States. The incidence and severity of M. halterata have been increasing in recent years, possibly due to the removal of certain chemical pesticides from tolerance by the EPA. Farmers’ demand for alternative control measures resulted in a label extension of the fungal biopesticide BotaniGard® ES, which contains viable spores of Beauveria bassiana (GHA strain), for use in mushroom crops. Here we describe laboratory bioassays to evaluate the efficacy of the label recommended dose of the abovementioned commercial biopesticide for control of immature and adult stages of M. halterata. According to our results, eggs and larvae of M. halterata were not susceptible to infection by B. bassiana whereas pupae displayed a partial susceptibility with mortality reaching up to 65%. Concerning adults of M. halterata exposure for 60 min to a paper surface sprayed with the registered label application rate of BotaniGard® ES led to 100% mortality within a period of 16 days and a mean survival time of 8.13 days, which differed significantly from the control batch, but unlikely to result in meaningful control of phorid populations in the field. Further studies should be examined to increase efficacy of the formulated product against immature and adult stages of M. halterata.
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U2 - 10.1080/09583157.2021.1926427
DO - 10.1080/09583157.2021.1926427
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85106275153
SN - 0958-3157
VL - 31
SP - 1098
EP - 1106
JO - Biocontrol Science and Technology
JF - Biocontrol Science and Technology
IS - 10
ER -