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An entomopathogenic strain of Beauveria bassiana (hypocreales: Cordycipitaceae) against Eotetranychus kankitus (acarina: Tetranychidae) and its compatibility with Neoseiulus barkeri (acarina: Phytoseiidae)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2025

Mingxiu Liu ,
Dong Xiang ,
Xiaotian Feng ,
Xuanliang Li ,
Mian Wang ,
Zhen Wang ,
Hanqiu Chen ,
Huai Liu  and
Yaying Li Open the ORCID record for Yaying Li [Opens in a new window]
Mingxiu Liu
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Agricultural Biosafety and Green Production of Upper Yangtze River, Key Laboratory of Entomology and Pest Control Engineering, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China Yibin Academy of Southwest University, Yibin 644000, China
Dong Xiang
Affiliation:
Institute of Vegetable, Tibet Academy of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Sciences, Lhasa, 850032, China
Xiaotian Feng
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Agricultural Biosafety and Green Production of Upper Yangtze River, Key Laboratory of Entomology and Pest Control Engineering, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China
Xuanliang Li
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Agricultural Biosafety and Green Production of Upper Yangtze River, Key Laboratory of Entomology and Pest Control Engineering, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China
Mian Wang
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Agricultural Biosafety and Green Production of Upper Yangtze River, Key Laboratory of Entomology and Pest Control Engineering, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China
Zhen Wang
Affiliation:
Institute of Vegetable, Tibet Academy of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Sciences, Lhasa, 850032, China
Hanqiu Chen
Affiliation:
Institute of Vegetable, Tibet Academy of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Sciences, Lhasa, 850032, China
Huai Liu
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Agricultural Biosafety and Green Production of Upper Yangtze River, Key Laboratory of Entomology and Pest Control Engineering, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China Yibin Academy of Southwest University, Yibin 644000, China
Yaying Li*
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Agricultural Biosafety and Green Production of Upper Yangtze River, Key Laboratory of Entomology and Pest Control Engineering, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China Yibin Academy of Southwest University, Yibin 644000, China
*
Corresponding author: Yaying Li; Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Eotetranychus kankitus is an important pest on several agricultural crops, and its resistance to pesticides has promoted the exploration of biological control strategies. Beauveria bassiana and Neoseiulus barkeri have been identified as potential agents for suppressing spider mites. This study aimed to investigate the pathogenicity of B. bassiana on E. kankitus and its compatibility with N. barkeri. Results showed that among the five tested strains of B. bassiana, Bb025 exhibited the highest level of pathogenicity on E. kankitus. Higher application rates (1 × 108 conidia/mL) of Bb025 led to a higher mortality rate of E. kankitus (90.402%), but also resulted in a 15.036% mortality of N. barkeri. Furthermore, preference response tests indicated that both E. kankitus and N. barkeri actively avoided plants sprayed with Bb025 compared to the control group that was sprayed with Tween-80. In a no-choice test, we observed that N. barkeri actively attacked Bb025-treated E. kankitus with no adverse effect on its predatory capacities. Furthermore, N. barkeri laid more eggs when fed on Bb025-treated E. kankitus compared to Tween-80-treated E. kankitus, but the subsequent generation of surviving individuals fed on Bb025-treated E. kankitus was reduced. These findings demonstrate that the Bb025 strain of B. bassiana is highly virulent against E. kankitus while causing less harm to N. barkeri. Consequently, a promising strategy for controlling E. kankitus could involve the sequential utilisation of Bb025 and N. barkeri at appropriate intervals.

Keywords

Biological controlcitrus yellow miteentomopathogenic funguspredatory miteselectivity
Type
Research Paper
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 115 , Issue 2 , April 2025 , pp. 226 - 233
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press.

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Footnotes

**

Corresponding authors at: College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China

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