PubMed1998
The effect of conidial concentration, soil texture, and soil sterilization on the efficacy of Beauveria bassiana against ovipositing grasshoppers (Melanoplus sanguinipes) was investigated in a controlled environment. In the first experiment, mortality of female grasshoppers ovipositing into a sterile loamy-sand soil containing conidia of B. bassiana was measured. The prevalence of mortality increased as the concentration of conidia in soil increased, and a median lethal concentration of 10(4) colony-forming units (CFU) per gram of soil (dry weight) was observed. Conidia (10(2.9) to 10(3) CFU per abdomen) were recovered from the abdomens of grasshoppers ovipositing into sand containing 10(5.5) and 10(6) conidia per gram. Similar numbers of eggs were laid among treatments during the first oviposition period (1 to 7 days), but an effect of conidial concentration on eggs laid was observed during the second oviposition period (8 to 14 days). This was attributed to reduction in female numbers and not to reduction in fecundity independent of mortality. In a second experiment, grasshoppers oviposited into soils of three different textures (loamy-sand, sandy-loam, or clay-loam) that were amended with 10(5) B. bassiana conidia per gram and possessed either a viable or heat-killed microflora. There was no effect of soil texture on mortality of ovipositing grasshoppers, on the number of eggs laid, on positioning of egg pods in the soil profile, or on numbers of B. bassiana CFU recovered from female abdomens. However, a higher prevalence of mortality was observed for females ovipositing into the sterilized than nonsterilized sandy-loam and clay-loam soils. Substantial populations of fungi and bacteria were recovered from nonsterilized soils. The predominant fungi isolated from these soils were members of the genera Chrysosporium, Fusarium, Gliocladium, Penicillium, Rhizopus, and Trichoderma, whereas Bacillus, Paenibacillus, and Pseudomonas species were the most commonly isolated bacteria. This study demonstrates that ovipositing grasshoppers are susceptible to relatively low densities of conidia in soils of varying textures, but the soil microflora may have an adverse affect on the efficacy of B. bassiana in field soils. Copyright 1998 Academic Press. Copyright 1998 Academic Press