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Metarhizium anisopliae HY-2, an entomopathogenic fungus isolated from pest cadaver in South Korea, is applicable as a potent bio-pesticide because of its insecticidal activity to Adoretus tenuimaculatus. Here we report this strain varied in its ability to grow under different nutritional and environmental factors. Temperature at 28°C and pH from 6 to 7 were obtained the best-fit environmental requirements. Insect pupa and tryptone were found the optimal nitrogen sources for both mycelial growth and sporulation. The strain reached the most suitable effects at the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio from 10:1 to 20:1 when the carbon concentration was 4 g/ml provided by glucose and nitrogen supplied by tryptone. Additionally, strain HY-2 produced an extracellular chitinase at a relatively high level (21.1 mU/ml) when cultivated for 20 days on a medium supplemented with colloidal chitin (1%) and insect pupa (0.5%), indicating that synthesis of chitinase is subject to induction by certain substrate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]