Abstract
Entomophaga aulicae (Hoffman in Bail) Batko (Zygomycotina: Entomophthorales) was found to cause epizootics in Spilarctia obliqua (Walker) (Arctiidae: Lepidoptera), a polyphagous pest in Manipur, India. Infected caterpillars climbed to elevated positions on plants where they hung upside down, attached by their abdominal prolegs. Infection levels reached up to 57%. The conidiophores are simple, conidia are ovoid to pyriform in shape, and the nuclei stained readily in aceto-orcein. Secondary, tertiary conidia and resting spores were also observed. No rhizoids and cystidia were found. This is the first report of E. aulicae infecting S. obliqua in Manipur.
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Acknowledgments
CMSK gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Dr. A. B. Jensen, University of Copenhagen, for helpful comments on the manuscript. Thanks are due to Drs. R.A. Humber and S. Keller for sending us pertinent literature. We thank the anonymous reviewers for their valuable suggestions, and the Directors of NEIST & IBSD for providing facilities.
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Kumar, C.M.S., Jeyaram, K. & Singh, H.B. First record of the entomopathogenic fungus Entomophaga aulicae on the Bihar hairy caterpillar Spilarctia obliqua in Manipur, India. Phytoparasitica 39, 67–71 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12600-010-0139-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12600-010-0139-z