Journal of Economic Entomology (2023) 116, 627-631

Amy V. McGuire, William Edwards and Tobin D. Northfield (2023)
The infection efficacy of Metarhizium strains (Hypocreales: Clavicipitaceae) against the Queensland fruit fly Bactrocera tryoni (Diptera: Tephritidae)
Journal of Economic Entomology 116 (2), 627-631
Abstract: The Queensland fruit fly (Qfly), Bactrocera tryoni Froggatt, is a devastating pest of Australia's commercial fruit systems. Fruit fly mitigation is heavily centered around the use chemical insecticides, with limited investigation into microbial control alternatives. The wet tropics of northern Queensland is a highly biodiverse ecosystem containing many species of insect pathogenic fungi, but it is unclear whether any of these entomopathogens could contribute to Qfly management programs. In laboratory trials, we investigated the potential for Qfly microbial control by 3 locally sourced strains of entomopathogenic fungi comprising 2 species, Metarhizium guizhouense (Chen and Guo) and Metarhizium lepidiotae (Driver and Milner). Additionally, we evaluated 2 different inoculation methods to derive the most effective way to expose the flies to conidia—either through dry conidia or in a conidial suspension. All 3 strains were successful in causing Qfly mortality. Metarhizium lepidiotae resulted in the highest mean mortality over the trials, while M. guizhouense resulted in the highest mortality in a single replicate. Laboratory experiments revealed exposure through dry conidia to be the most effective method to inoculate the flies. These results suggest that fungal entomopathogens could be a viable pathway to Qfly suppression.
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Database assignments for author(s): Tobin D. Northfield

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
evaluation - screening - selection
formulation/storage of bioagents

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Bactrocera tryoni		Australia (NT+QLD)
Metarhizium guizhouense (entomopathogen)	Bactrocera tryoni		Australia (NT+QLD)
Metarhizium lepidiotae (entomopathogen)	Bactrocera tryoni		Australia (NT+QLD)