Susceptibility of adult and larval stages of housefly, Musca domestica to entomopathogenic fungal biopesticides.

The current study assessed the efficacy of entomopathogenic fungal (EPF) biopesticides against adult and larval stages of houseflies, Musca domestica L. under laboratory conditions. Six commercial EPF biopesticides were selected for virulence tests; three strains of Beauveria bassiana (HF23 in the product balEnce™, GHA in the product Botanigard ES and ATCC 74040 in the product Naturalis-L), one strain of Metarhizium brunneum (F52 in the product Met52®), one strain of Lecanicillium muscarium (KV01 in the product Mycotal®), and one strain of Isaria fumosorosea (Apopka 97, in the product Preferal WG). Adult and larval stages of houseflies were sprayed with 2 ml of a conidial concentration (108 conidia ml−1) of each EPF biopesticide individually using a Potter tower. The results showed that balEnce™ and Botanigard ES were significantly the highest efficacy against adults and larvae of M. domestica, compared to other EPF biopesticides. The mean conidial concentration (LC50) for adults and larvae of M. domestica exposed to balEnce™ was 4.7 × 105 conidia ml−1 and 4.8 × 105 conidia ml−1 respectively, which was not significantly different from LC50 value of Botanigard ES (6.0 × 105 and 4.6 × 105 conidia ml−1). The mean lethal time (LT50) values of balEnce™ and Botanigard ES were significantly shorter at 109 and 108 than other conidial concentrations. balEnce™ or Botanigard ES caused 44–94% reduction in daily fecundity of the adult females from day 3 to day 10 post-treatment. Results demonstrated that EPF biopesticides balEnce™ and Botanigard ES have potential as biocontrol agents of M. domestica but further research under operational conditions is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]