Applying local entomopathogenic fungi strains to the soil can control Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae) Wiedemann adults

ABSTRACT

Ceratitis capitata causes direct and indirect damage to fruit production worldwide, reducing productivity and increasing costs. Currently, there is no effective control strategy for fruit fly pupae in the soil. We selected virulent local entomopathogenic fungi (EF) strains for application against pupae of C. capitata and evaluated their effects on the post-emergence survival of adults in laboratory conditions. A cage was designed to study mortality in apparently healthy C. capitata adults that emerged from soils previously treated with EF conidia. This approach allowed the selection of four strains of Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin (Hypocreales: Cordycipitaceae) and two strains of Metarhizium anisopliae (Metschnikoff) Sorokin (Hypocreales: Clavicipitaceae) that were virulent to C. capitata pupae. The application of B. bassiana strains LCB53 and LCB289 caused 44.4 and 60.1% corrected pupae mortality and 83.5 and 88.7% corrected mortality of pupae plus adults, respectively. The median lethal time after adult emergence was 4.0 and 3.5 days for LCB53 and LCB289, respectively. The application of conidial preparations to natural soil reduced insect emergence and the adult life span and represents a promising strategy for fruit fly integrated management.

KEYWORDS:

• Biological control
• Metarhizium
• Beauveria
• pupae
• adult mortality

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Mr. Herbert Targino for his technical support and significant help in the experiments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Carlos Alberto Tuão Gava http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3441-8643

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by Pernambuco State Research Foundation – FACEPE [Fundação de Amparo à Ciência e Tecnologia do Estado de Pernambuco] and Brazilian Agriculture Research Corporation – Embrapa [Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária] MP3 03.16.00.072.00 and MP2 02.10.06.013.00.