Background: Entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) are natural adversaries of insects, serving a crucial role in the regulation of insect pest populations. In response to the growing demand for sustainable agricultural practices that prioritize environmental protection, human safety and animal welfare, the utilization of bio-control agents like entomopathogenic fungi offers a superior and safe alternative to chemical pesticides. Entomopathogenic fungi effectively infect and eliminate insects, thereby contributing to the control of insect populations through the induction of lethal infections known as epizootics. Isolating EPF from the soil is an effective method as they naturally inhabit soil ecosystems. The north-eastern region of India possesses a forest cover exceeding 80%, with Manipur alone accounting for nearly 75% of forest cover in its total geographical area. This abundant forest cover, along with undisturbed land, contributes to the region’s wealth of micro flora and fauna, including a thriving population of entomopathogenic fungi. However, the potential of these fungi in pest population management remains largely unexplored. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the diversity of these promising entomopathogenic fungi. Methods: In this study, we isolated fungi from the soils of ten districts of Manipur and identified several isolates with entomopathogenic properties. Soil bating using Galleria mellonella larvae was employed for the isolation of entomopathogenic fungi. Result: A total of 73 fungal isolates were obtained from 100 soil samples, out of which 54 were identified as entomopathogenic fungi. The genus Aspergillus constituted the most commonly isolated entomopathogenic fungi, followed by isolates of Beauveria, Clonostachys, Talaromyces, Trichoderma, Fusarium, Aspergillus, Candida and Meyerozyma genera. Diversity studies revealed variations in the types and proportions of fungi among different regions of Manipur. Pathogenicity tests confirmed the virulence of the isolated entomopathogenic fungi, with 14 isolates of Beauveria bassiana and two isolates of Talaromyces purpureogenus causing 100% mortality of the test insects. The isolated fungi exhibited excellent performance in insect control and could be further mass-produced for effective pest management.

Biodiversity of insect pollinator’s species visiting sunnhemp crop was studied in TNAU Coimbatore, India. Fifteen insect species belonging to four orders were recorded from sunnhemp flowers, of which nine belongs to order Hymenoptera, two to Lepidoptera, two to Coleoptera and one to Diptera. Among the different insect pollinators Xylocopa latipes, Xylocopa pubescens and Megachile lanata are the most frequent visitors. These are also capable of impeding pollination in sunnhemp flowers. Among different bee species maximum mean population was observed in Megachile lanata-4.72 bees/M2/5 minutes followed by Xylocopa latipes 3.65 bees/M2/5 minutes and lowest abundance was observed in case of Xylocopa pubescens (3.215 bees/M2/5 minutes). The pollination index of Xylocopa latipes (7.05) was highestfollowed by Xylocopa pubescens (6.85)and Megachile lanata (6.84). Hence it is concluded that Xylocopa latipes was the most efficient pollinator of sunnhemp flower. The seed for this potentially valuable green manure crop is largely unavailable due to paucity of pollinators and self-incompatible nature of the plant. These pollinators are able to overcome the floral barriers in sunnhemp flowers. Compared to male bees, the females are more efficient in pollinating, the male bees collect only nectar while female bees collect both nectar and pollen for the purpose of reproduction and feeding the offspring’-s.

Chalkbrood Ascosphaera apis is a fungal brood pathogen that exerts considerable biotic stress on honey bees worldwide. Chalkbrood was noticed at Coimbatore in Apis mellifera colonies for the first time. Precise identification of the fungal pathogen and their mating types is crucial to develop effective disease management strategies. Hence, the present study aimed to isolate and identify fungal pathogen morphologically and genomically. Scanning Electron Microscopic (SEM) analysis was done and confirmed the essential morphological characteristics of the isolated fungus such as spore cysts (51-86 µm in diameter), spore balls (8-15 µm in diameter), and ascospores (1.7-2.6 µm in length). Molecular characterization using internal transcribed sequence (ITS)-PCR of the fungal isolate indicated 99-100% sequence similarity to A. apis. In addition, the multiplex PCR assay was performed and the mating types MAT1-1 and MAT1-2 were successfully detected and named TNAU CBD MAT1 and TNAU CBD MAT2, respectively.