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Comparative efficacy and pathogenicity of keratinophilic soil fungi against Culex quinquefasciatus larvae

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Abstract

Out of seven fungal species belonging to four genera isolated from pond and wallow soils using feathers of Pavo cristatus as bait, four species viz., Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Chrysosporium pseudomerdarium and Trichophyton ajelloi were most frequent. Chrysosporium and Trichophyton spp. were more pathogenic on Culex quinquefasciatus larvae than Aspergillus and Penicillium. The bioefficacy tests conducted as per the protocol of World Health Organization and the LC50 values calculated by the Probit analysis showed that 3rd-instar C. quinquefasciatus were more susceptible to the conidia of above fungi. Highest mortality was observed in the larvae of C. quinquefasciatus when exposed to T. ajelloi. The density of fungal conidia was greatest on the ventral brush, palmate hair and anal region of the mosquito larvae after exposing for 72 hours. The potentiality of these fungi for use in the control of C. quinquefasciatus is discussed which can be exploited as a suitable biocontrol agent in the tropics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Dayalbagh, Agra, 282 005, India

    Suman Sundar Mohanty & Soam Prakash

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  1. Suman Sundar Mohanty
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  2. Soam Prakash
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Correspondence to Suman Sundar Mohanty.

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Mohanty, S.S., Prakash, S. Comparative efficacy and pathogenicity of keratinophilic soil fungi against Culex quinquefasciatus larvae. Indian J Microbiol 50, 299–302 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12088-010-0051-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12088-010-0051-8

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