Background: As a biological control agent, entomopathogenic fungus (EPF) can give an alternative to high-risk pesticides. Metarhizium anisopliae is one of the most promising pest controls EPF in the worldwide. Result: On fungi-specific selective media, the EPF isolate SVPUAT was isolated from Western Uttar Pradesh, India. The isolate was identified as M. anisopliae (GenBank accession no. OP962431) after molecular screening utilizing PCR amplification with the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region primer. In a contact toxicity experiment, the isolate SVPUAT was tested against the 4th instar larvae of Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) at concentrations ranging from 10³ to 10¹⁰ spores ml⁻¹. The lethal time LT₅₀ and LT₉₀ values for the 4th instar larvae of H. armigera injected with 1 × 10¹⁰ spores ml⁻¹ were 3.46 and 5.54 days, respectively. Conclusions: The present M. anisopliae isolate SVPUAT was identified using the ITS-5.8s rDNA region from GenBank and has showed significant pathogenicity to H. armigera. More research is needed to prove the efficacy against various pests of economic important as a legitimate choice for an integrated pest management program.

Green lacewing, Chrysoperla zastrowi (Esben-Petersons) (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) is the most effective polyphagous predator of different species of aphids and is commonly known as “aphid lion.” During the study, the green lacewing adults were collected from the flowers of different crop plants in Meerut region. The experiment on feeding potential of green lacewing was studied in the Bio-control Laboratory of Department of Entomology, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture & Technology, Meerut from November 2019 to March 2020. The known number of predatory larvae of green lacewings were fed with known number of six different species of live aphids. The total food consumption of a single larva of C. zastrowi were found to be in order of 180.00 ± 1.24 A. craccivora, 171.33 ± 4.42 A. gossypii, 157.67 ± 1.49 B. brassicae, 142.67 ± 2.36 L. erysimi, 131.34 ± 2.19 R. maidis and 119.67 ± 2.94 M. persicae. Results revealed that the third instar were found more voracious than other two instar.

A field experiment was conducted for two years (2021-22 and 2022-23) at Crop Research Center, College of Agriculture, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology, Meerut, to ascertain the influence of various meteorological parameters on population fluctuations of Helicoverpa armigera on tomato. The peak period of occurrence of this insect was observed in 20th standard week (fourth week of May, 2022). The maximum population of this insect was recorded as 4.73 larvae/plant. Larval population of fruit borer had significant positive correlation with maximum temperature (r=0.593*) and minimum temperature (r=0.551*). Larval population of fruit borer had significant negative correlation with morning relative humidity (r=-0.598*) and evening relative humidity (r=-0.531*). Non-signification positive correlation was observed with the rainfall and larval population (r=0.052NS). The peak period of occurrence of this insect was observed in 23rd standard week (second week of June, 2023). The maximum population of this insect was recorded as 3.80 larvae/plant. Larval population of fruit borer had highly significant positive correlation with maximum temperature (r=0.693**) and minimum temperature (r=0.635**).

Aim of study: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a native isolate of Metarhizium anisopliae (Metsch.) Sorokin as a biocontrol agent against fourth instar larvae of the cabbage webworm, Hellula undalis (Fabricius, 1781). Area of study: The research focused on entomopathogenic fungi and particularly examined the impact of different concentrations of M. anisopliae spores on the mortality of H. undalis larvae under controlled conditions. Material and methods: Fourth instar larvae of H. undalis were exposed to different concentrations of M. anisopliae spores. Mortality rates were monitored over specified time intervals to establish dose- response patterns and determine lethal times. Main results: The study found a dose-dependent relationship between spore concentration and larval mortality. Lower concentrations initially showed no significant effects, but showed a gradual increase in mortality over time, while higher concentrations resulted in significant mortality rates, reaching 86.88% at 120 h (with a variation of p ≤ 0.05). Research highlights: Concentration-dependent efficacy of M. anisopliae was observed, showing a decrease in mean lethality time (LT50) and 90% mortality time (LT90) with increasing spore concentration. The results highlight the potential of M. anisopliae as a biological control agent against H. undalis and provide insights for integrated pest control strategies. The study highlights the entomopathogenic properties of M. anisopliae and highlights its role as an environmentally friendly and sustainable pest control solution.

IndianJournals.com - Gateway to access, disperse and preserve knowledge!

The present investigation entitled “Mass Production of entomopathogenic fungi Beauveria bassiana (Metsch.) on Liquid and Solid Media” was carried out at Bio Control Laboratory, Department of Entomology, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology, Meerut during 2020-21. In all there were eight treatments including control replicated thrice in a complete block design (CRD). The substrate for spores constriction effective of Beauveria bassiana spore/ml (1x106) production incurred for the production of spores significantly superior of various treatments in showed the treatments Savoured dextrose broth (SDB), significantly superior was the best treatment by bringing down the B. Bassiana production on 7, 14, 21, 28 and 35 days (47.28, 84.12, 147.23, 219.21 and 258.31 spores constriction) in liquid medium followed by second most effective other treatments in order of spore producing was with the treatment in Potato dextrose broth (PDB) on 7, 14, 21, 28 and 35 days (41.23, 77.86, 114.27, 191.36, and 211.65) spores constriction), in liquid medium and solid medium is the most effective treatment Black gram + Molasses + 1% YE + 1.0 g Dextrose on 7,14,21,28 and 35 days (27.32, 63.11, 93.32, 152.31 and 161.64 spores constriction), superior in solid medium.