Using entomopathogenic fungi to control the greenhouse whitefly (Trialeurodes vaporariorum): developing a standardised bioassay

Spence, Eleanor; Hesketh, Helen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1794-7658; Svendsen, Claus ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7281-647X; Chandler, David; Martin, Gareth; Berry, Shaun D.. 2019 Using entomopathogenic fungi to control the greenhouse whitefly (Trialeurodes vaporariorum): developing a standardised bioassay. [Poster] In: 52nd Annual Meeting of the Society for Invertebrate Pathology and 17th Meeting of the IOBC-WPRS Working Group "Microbial and Nematode Control of Invertebrate Pests", Valencia, Spain, 28 Jul - 1 Aug 2019. (Unpublished)

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Abstract/Summary

A standardised bioassay method was created to assess the efficacy of different entomopathogenic fungal isolates against Greenhouse whitefly (Trialeurodes vaporariorum) (GHWF). A spray tower consisting of a gravity feed dual action airbrush attached to an acrylic cylinder and powered by a mini airbrush compressor was calibrated to apply a uniform coverage of solution to a target area. Egg laying by adult GHWF was restricted to a known area of the lateral side of aubergine leaves and migration during the first instar was observed. The spray tower was used to apply a single concentration of eighteen different entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) onto third instar GHWF. Isolates consisted of a mixture of commercially available mycoinsecticides and other isolates taken from the USDA Agricultural Research Service collection, resulting in a mixture of Beauveria, Isaria, Lecanicillium and Metarhizium species. The sprayer delivered 252± 51 fungal spores/mm, equivalent to 2.5 x1012 spores per hectare. Whitefly mortality ranged 8-89% with half of the isolates resulting in <40% GHWF population mortality. The methods employed in this study could be utilised in the selection of isolates for microbial control of whitefly. Combining the sprayer calibration and bioassay method ensures a reliable and applicable approach to test efficacy of whitefly pesticides.

Item Type:	Publication - Conference Item (Poster)
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Biodiversity (Science Area 2017-) Pollution (Science Area 2017-)
Additional Keywords:	invertebrate pathogen, entomopathogen, greenhouse whitefly, bioassay
NORA Subject Terms:	Ecology and Environment Agriculture and Soil Science Biology and Microbiology
Date made live:	09 Sep 2019 10:03 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/525005

Item Type:

Publication - Conference Item (Poster)

UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:

Biodiversity (Science Area 2017-)
Pollution (Science Area 2017-)

Additional Keywords:

invertebrate pathogen, entomopathogen, greenhouse whitefly, bioassay

NORA Subject Terms:

Ecology and Environment
Agriculture and Soil Science
Biology and Microbiology

Date made live:

09 Sep 2019 10:03 +0 (UTC)

URI:

https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/525005