The brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål) (BMSB) is an exotic invasive insect originating in East Asia, currently causing significant damage to fruits, vegetables and other crops throughout most of the Mid-Atlantic states of the U.S. It also is a nuisance pest, entering homes in the fall in search of suitable overwintering sites. Two formulations of BotaniGard^® with a strain of Beauveria bassiana (GHA) as the active ingredient were tested against second instar BMSB. Both the wettable powder and the emulsifiable suspension formulations were efficacious at 1 × 10⁷ conidia mL⁻¹, causing 67%–80% mortality 9 days post treatment and 95%–100% after 12 days. The wettable powder formulation was slightly more efficacious.

Mycopathogens of economically important exotic invasive insects in forests of northeastern USA have been the subject of research at the Entomology Research Laboratory, University of Vermont, for the last 20 years. Elongate hemlock scale, European fruit lecanium, hemlock woolly adelgid and pear thrips were analyzed for the presence of mycopathogens, in order to consider the potential for managing these pests with biological control. Fungal cultures isolated from insects with signs of fungal infection were identified based on morphological characters and DNA profiling. Mycopathogens recovered from infected insects were subdivided into three groups, i.e., specialized entomopathogenic; facultative entomopathogens; ubiquitous opportunistic contaminants. Epizootics were caused by fungi in the specialized group with the exception of M. microspora, P. marquandii and I. farinosa. Inoculation of insects in laboratory and field conditions with B. bassiana, L. muscarium and Myriangium sp. caused insect mortality of 45 to 95%. Although pest populations in the field seemed severely compromised after treatment, the remnant populations re-established themselves after the winter. Although capable of inducing high mortality, a single localized aerial application of a soil-dwelling fungus does not maintain long-time suppression of pests. However, it can halt their range expansion and maintain populations below the economic threshold level without the use of expensive insecticides which have a negative impact on the environment.

Fungi associated with the hemlock wooly adelgid, Adelges tsugae Annand (Hemiptera: Adelgidae), were collected throughout the eastern USA and southern

The conidial deposition of BotaniGard® 22WP on chrysanthemum plants was assessed. Assessments were conducted on stationary and moving applications using different spray nozzles, application angles and tank pressures. In addition, the spray time and distance from the target plant were included. Conidial deposition was greater on the upper canopy of the plants and the upper sides of the leaves. The nozzle type, spray angle, and distance from the target plant had the most significant effects on conidial distribution. The optimal spray nozzles were found to be HC-22 and FAN-1, which provided the best coverage of both the plants in general, and on the lower surfaces of the leaves.

The effectiveness of two methods for the determination of deposition of mycopesticides on hemlock trees by spray application was compared. One method employs water and oil sensitive paper cards; the other uses a combination of two adhesive tapes (scotch tape) with different adhesive properties. Two fungi, Beauveria bassiana and Lecanicillium muscarium, and three fungal formulations based on whey, oil, and whey together with oil were used to evaluate the efficacy of the two methods. The new method has shown the certain advantages in comparison with the traditional method which is based on the sensitive paper cards. Generally, number of droplets counted was greater in the case of adhesive tape utilization. These observations were noted for the two entomopathogenic fungi. However, different results were noted for the three different types of fungal formulations. The presence of conidia was observed in all three formulations using adhesive tape. The number of conidia localized on hemlock twigs was affected by fungal formulation. The adhesive tape method allowed counting more droplets than the sensitive cards. Other advantages of the adhesive tape method include the ability to observe the outer appearance and internal structure of the droplets and to count fungal propagules directly on the leaf surfaces.