Pathogenicity of the fungi Metarhizium anisopliae (Metsch.) Sorokin and Beauveria bassiana (Bals.) Vuillemin to stinkbug Scaptocoris carvalhoi Becker, 1967 was evaluated under laboratory and greenhouse conditions. Experiments were carried out at Embrapa Agropecuária Oeste, Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil, in 2003. Ten M. anisopliae and eleven B. bassiana isolates were evaluated in laboratory using a completely randomized experimental design with five replicates (10 adults and 5 nymphs/plot). The pathogenicity of M. anisopliae isolate (Ma69) was also separately evaluated against nymphs and adults in laboratory and greenhouse. The stinkbug mortality levels were higher for M. anisopliae isolates (between 73.3% and 94.7% than for B. bassiana isolates (between 10.7% and 78.7%). In greenhouse, stinkbug mortality due to the M. anisopliae isolate (Ma69) was 57.3%, and there was no difference of mortality for nymphs and adults of stinkbug in laboratory. However, in greenhouse, mortality levels were significantly higher (p<0,05) for nymphs (38,4%) than for adults (16,2%). From these data, we conclude that M. anisopliae isolate Ma69 was efficient to control S. carvalhoi in laboratory and in greenhouse, thus being a promising choice for use as a microbial insecticide under field conditions.
Entomopathogenic fungus; microbial control; mortality
