Abstract
This study was conducted to isolate and identify natural entomopathogenic fungi from female Culex quinquefasciatus and to test their adulticidal activity. Field-collected female C. quinquefasciatus died early and were placed on a Saboraud’s dextrose agar plates for growth and isolation of natural entomopathogenic fungi. The plates were maintained in an incubator at 24 ± 2°C for 3 days. Four fungal species were isolated in two genera namely, Aspergillus and Fusarium. The identified fungal species were A. niger, A. flavus, A. nidulans var acristatus (ITCC-6327.04), and F. pallidoroseum (ITCC-6324.06). Adult bioassays were carried out using spore-impregnated paper in WHO-holding tubes. F. pallidoroseum was found to be more effective than the others. Exposure of C. quinquefasciatus to spores of A. flavus and A. niger for 4 h caused 5.53% and 5.51% mortality in the mosquitoes within a week, respectively. All the female C. quinquefasciatus were killed within 4 days of exposure to F. pallidoroseum at a concentration of 1.11 × 1010 conidia per m2. Significant difference of longevity was observed between the F. pallidoroseum-treated C. quinquefasciatus and control mosquitoes. The LT50 of F. pallidoroseum was 2.08 days for 4 h exposure to C. quinquefasciatus. Results of the present study confirm that F. pallidoroseum is one of the alternative biological control agents of adult mosquitoes.
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The first author acknowledges the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, for financial support in the form of Research Associateship.
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Mohanty, S.S., Raghavendra, K., Rai, U. et al. Efficacy of female Culex quinquefasciatus with entomopathogenic fungus Fusarium pallidoroseum . Parasitol Res 103, 171–174 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-008-0946-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-008-0946-z