Horizontal Transmission of the Entomopathogen Fungus Metarhizium anisopliae in Microcerotermes diversus Groups

• Published in: Insects (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 3; no. 3; pp. 709 - 718
• Main Authors: Cheraghi, Amir, Habibpour, Behzad, Mossadegh, Mohammad Saied, Sharififard, Mona
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 08-08-2012; MDPI
• Subjects: recipient; termites; biological control; vector
• ISSN: 2075-4450; 2075-4450
• DOI: 10.3390/insects3030709

An experiment was carried out in order to investigate fungal conidia transmission of Metarhizium anisopliae (Metschnikoff) Sorokin from vector (donor) to healthy Microcerotermes diversus Silvestri (Iso.: Termitidae) and determine the best donor/concentration ratio for transmission. After preliminary trials, concentrations of 3.1 × 10⁴, 3.9 × 10⁵, 3.2 × 10⁶ and 3.5 × 10(8) conidia mL(-1) were selected for testing. The experiment was performed at three donor : Recipient ratios of 10, 30 and 50%. The highest mortality of recipient workers was observed after 14 days at the concentration of 3.5 × 10⁸ conidia mL(-1) and donor ratio of 50%. The mortality of recipient workers was less than 20% at all concentrations at a donor ratio of 10%. Our observations indicate social behavior of M. diversus, such as grooming, can be effective in promoting epizootic outbreaks in a colony. While the current results suggest good potential for efficacy, the use of M. anisopliae as a component of integrated pest management of M. diversus still needs to be proven under field conditions.