Journal of Pest Science (2017) 90, 345-354

M. Yousef, I. Garrido-Jurado, M. Ruíz-Torres and E. Quesada-Moraga (2017)
Reduction of adult olive fruit fly populations by targeting preimaginals in the soil with the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium brunneum
Journal of Pest Science 90 (1), 345-354
Abstract: The primary research focus of the present work was to evaluate the effectiveness of soil applications of the Metarhizium brunneum EAMa 01/58-Su strain beneath the tree canopy targeting Bactrocera oleae (Rossi) preimaginals to reduce the adult fly population. In a first series of laboratory bioassays, the virulence of the strain against puparia and adults was ascertained, with LC₅₀ values of 1.0 × 10⁷ and 7.0 × 10⁶ conidia ml^-1, respectively. In a second long-term field experiment, an experimental mycoinsecticide was produced using this strain and evaluated in selected farms in Andalusia (Spain) over 4 years. In each season, the field experiments lasted for 4–5 months, with two applications of the mycoinsecticide beneath the tree canopy at a rate of 1.0 × 10⁵–3.0 × 10⁵ conidia g soil^-1, the first one in late fall, when prepupariating larvae typically fall from the olive fruit to the soil, and the second one in early spring, when adult emergence from the soil is expected. After each application, the fungal inoculum reached basal levels varying from 0.8 × 10² to 1.1 × 10³ conidia g soil^-1. During the four seasons, a 50–70 % reduction of adult olive fruit fly populations was observed in the treated plots compared with the untreated ones, which could help in minimising the number of treatments, if any, within an olive fruit fly IPM strategy.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Enrique Quesada-Moraga

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
application technology
evaluation - screening - selection

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Bactrocera oleae		Spain (continental)
Metarhizium brunneum (entomopathogen)	Bactrocera oleae		Spain (continental)