Effect of aging in adult Monochamus alternatus (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) on the susceptibility of the beetle to Beauveria bassiana (Ascomycota: Hypocreales)

To clarify the effect of aging in adult Monochamus alternatus on the susceptibility of the beetle to Beauveria bassiana, we inoculated the fungus into adult beetles 0, 3, 7, 14, and 28 days after emergence. The number of days from B. bassiana inoculation to M. alternatus death increased with the number of days from beetle emergence to inoculation up to 14 days after emergence. This indicated that the susceptibility of adult beetles to the fungus decreased with aging. However, B. bassiana-inoculated beetles 28 days after emergence died earlier after inoculation than those inoculated with the fungus 14 days after emergence; i.e., the beetle’s susceptibility to the fungus increased again. We considered this phenomenon to be the result of senescence of adult beetles. We concluded that the susceptibility of M. alternatus to B. bassiana decreased first and then increased again with aging.