Patogenicity of entomopathogenic fungi to Spodoptera frugiperda (Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

This study aimed to evaluate the pathogenicity, under laboratory conditions, of 49 isolates of the entomopathogenic fungi Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae against Spodoptera frugiperda larvae. Insects (3rd instar caterpillars) were immersed in 1 × 109 conidia/mL suspensions of each of the isolates for 10 seconds. After that, caterpillars were individually placed in Petri dishes with artificial diet and incubated at 26 ± 1°C and 12 hours of photophase, and they were evaluated daily for ten days. The B. bassiana isolates were more efficient, mainly Unioeste 26 strain, which reached 44.5% mortality and generated the greatest number of conidia in production testing of the fungus. Despite the low mortality percentage, these studies showed the potential of entomopathogenic fungi as promising agents for the control of S. frugiperda.