Horizontal transmission of entomopathogenic fungi plays an important role in the epizootiology, because it is directly associated with the spread of causal agents of insect diseases. In hosts with restricted mobility, the presence of secondary pests in the agroecosystem can help in the formation of secondary disease outbreaks and increase the mortality of the target pest. For this purpose, the dissemination of Beauveria bassiana inoculated using tile-type baits was evaluated in a banana plantation infested with Cosmopolites sordidus (Piracicaba) and one with C. sordidus and Metamasius hemipterus (Botucatu). In Piracicaba, insects contaminated with the pathogen were not found in the control group, and infection rates in the plots that received B. bassiana ranged between 8 and 15%. In Botucatu, the infection rate of insects in the control reached 17%, whereas in the fungal treatment plots, it varied from 28 to 54%. The present results demonstrate the influence of M. hemipterus in the dissemination of B. bassiana in populations of C. sordidus, a target pest of this crop.
Cosmopolites sordidus; Metamasius hemipterus; horizontal transmission; epizootiology
