ISOLATION AND SELECTION OF FUNGI IN ORDER TO CONTROL MUSCA DOMESTICA THIRD-INSTAR LARVAE

ABSTRACT Use of biological control measures in Brazil has been increasing because of the problems generated from the indiscriminate use of chemical insecticides. Musca domestica represents the biggest problem to poultry farms due to the favorable conditions for its population growth. The present study was therefore conducted, beginning with captures of muscoid diptera on a poultry farm in the Montes Claros region, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, using traps containing chemical bait and as well as capture by direct search, and the fungi resident on these flies was isolated and identified. The isolated fungi were two species of Aspergillus sp., one each from the genera Memnoniella sp., Scopulariopsis sp., Paecilomyces sp., and one fungi of the family Moniliaceae. Also, the entomopathogenic species of fungi Beauveria bassiana CG 470 and CG 472, Metarhizium anisopliae CG 34 and CG 312, and Paecilomyces sp. CG 301 were requested from CENARGEM/EMBRAPA. The species selected for the bioassays were Aspergillus sp., Memnoniella sp. and Metarhizium anisopliae CG 34 and CG 312. The fungi Aspergillus sp. and the Memnoniella sp. did not present entomopathogenic capacity; the fungi Metarhizium anisopliae CG 34 and CG 312 were sufficiently efficient in controlling the emergence of the adults of Musca domestica, showing themselves good agents of biological control.