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Synergistic interaction of Beauveria bassiana (Vuillemin) with Emamectin benzoate improves its pathogenicity against Spodoptera litura (Fabricius)

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Abstract

The excessive application of chemical pesticides to control Spodoptera litura Fabricius can cause both insecticide resistance to develop and result in environmental damage. This has driven the need to develop alternative pest control strategies. This study reports synergistic interaction between the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana Vuillemin and the insecticide emamectin benzoate against S. litura. The results revealed that colony growth of B. bassiana was inhibited by higher emamectin benzoate concentrations whereas germination rate was not affected by the insecticide. The median lethal concentration (LC50) of B. bassiana against 2nd instar S. litura larvae 5 days post application was 8.58 × 107 conidia/mL. The LC50 values of emamectin benzoate against S. litura after 1, 2 and 3 days post application were 3.56, 0.98 and 0.89 mg/L respectively. The cumulative daily mortality of S. litura immatures treated with different concentrations of emamectin benzoate + B. bassiana wettable powder and oil-based formulations was directly proportional to the concentration and time post-treatment. The combined treatments of B. bassiana and emamectin benzoate caused significantly higher S. litura mortality compared to their respective individual treatments under glasshouse conditions. Following five days of treatment, the B. bassiana and emamectin benzoate oil-based formulation (B. bassiana 1 × 108 conidia/mL + emamectin benzoate 4.5 mg/L) showed a strong synergistic effect.

These findings confirm the synergistic action of B. bassiana and emamectin benzoate against S. litura. Such information is valuable in the development of integrated control programs against resistant insect pest species.

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Data Availability

The data and material used during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to handling editor and anonymous reviewers for kind suggestions and comments.

Funding

This research was funded by grants from Research and development Program of Hunan Provincial Tobbaco Company, Xiangyanke Plan [2022] 24  (Grant No: HN2022KJ07).

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  1. Jiaying Li and Xiangping Zhou are Joint first authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Yongzhou tobacco company of Hunan province, Yongzhou, P.R. China

    Jiaying Li, Xiangping Zhou, Jingjing Li, Qingxiao Xu & Zaide Gan

  2. Hengyang tobacco company of Hunan province, Hengyang, P.R. China

    Zhipeng Xiao

  3. Hunan province tobacco company, Changsha, P.R. China

    Shaolong Wu

  4. Changsha tobacco company of Hunan province, Changsha, P.R. China

    Hailin Cai & Kai Teng

  5. Xiangxi tobacco company of Hunan province, Xiangxi, P.R. China

    Weiai Zeng

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  1. Jiaying Li
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Contributions

JYL and XPZ conducted the experiment and data curation. ZPX, HLC and SLW performed data analysis and validation of results. WAZ, KT, JJL and JYL wrote and edited the manuscript draft. QXU and ZDG conceived and supervised the study.

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Correspondence to Qingxiao Xu or Zaide Gan.

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Li, J., Zhou, X., Xiao, Z. et al. Synergistic interaction of Beauveria bassiana (Vuillemin) with Emamectin benzoate improves its pathogenicity against Spodoptera litura (Fabricius). Int J Trop Insect Sci 43, 1207–1217 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42690-023-01011-9

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