Biocontrol-based management of fall armyworm,Spodoptera frugiperda (J E Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) on Indian Maize

Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection - Spodoptera frugiperda (J E Smith) (fall armyworm) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is a key pest of maize that has recently entered in India causing damage and...     

Field evaluation of entomofungal pathogens against cowpea aphid,Aphis craccivora Koch,and their effect on two coccinellid predators

The present study was carried out to assess the field efficacy of 10 isolates of entomofungal pathogens on management of cowpea aphid, Aphis craccivora. All the tested isolates showed suppressive effect on aphid population. Two-year pooled data revealed lower incidence of 19.37–40.81 aphids/plant in the entomofungal pathogen treated plots compared to higher incidence of 88.07 aphids/plant in untreated control. Among the 10 isolates tested, Vl-8 isolate of Lecanicillium lecanii, Ma-6 isolate of Metarhizium anisopliae and Bb-5a isolate of Beauveria bassiana showed 78.01%, 77.42% and 76.91% reduction of aphid population, respectively, over control and were on par with each other. Significantly higher yields were recorded in the plots treated with Bb-5a, Ma-6 and Vl-8 isolates (1252, 1225 and 1208 kg/ha, respectively) compared to untreated control (916 kg/ha). The predatory coccinellid populations of Cheilomenes sexmaculata and Micromus timidus in entomofungal treated and untreated control plots were almost similar and found statistically non-significant, indicating the safety of fungal pathogens to these coccinellid predators.