This study evaluated the pathogenicity of the fungus Beauveria bassiana (Isolate 986) on the development of the parasitic phase of Anocentor nitens by accompanying the development of unfed larvae until the adult stage. Two treated and one control group were used with five repetitions each. In the first treated group (T1), cattle ears were bathed with a fungal suspension of 10(8) conidia ml-1, second treated group (T2), the ears were bathed with distilled water and Tween 80 1% and the control group (C), the ears were bathed with distilled water. One day after treatment, the ears of each animal were infested with 100 mg of larvae. The parameters analyzed in each treatment were: number and weight of females recovered; periods of pre-oviposition, oviposition, incubation, eclosion and longevity; percentage of eggs hatched; weight of the egg mass and of females after oviposition. We found that in the two treated groups the number of females recovered was significantly lower (P<0.05) than in the control group. 35, 70 and 117 females were recovered from the T1, T2 and C, respectively. The females obtained from the surviving larvae of the treated groups did not suffer any deleterious effects from the entomopathogen studied.
Anocentor nitens; Beauveria bassiana; entomopathogenic fungus; microbial control
