Fifty strains of the entomopathogenic fungi Beauveria bassiana (Bals.) Vuill. and Metarhizium anisopliae (Metsch.) Sorok. were tested against the termite Cornitermes cumulans. In the first phase of the experiments, several bioassays were conducted and the five best strains were selected. The criterion for strain selection during this phase was the confirmed mortality above 50% five days after application of the fungus. Three M. anisopliae and two B. bassiana strains were the most virulent. The second phase of the experiments consisted of a bioassay and a conidial production test using a rice medium. The best M. anisopliae and B. bassiana strains were selected using both the confirmed insect mortality nine days after application of the fungus and the yield of conidia. Considering results from the bioassay, M. anisopliae 1037 showed the highest confirmed (57.8%) and total (89.2%) mortalities after nine days. Among the B. bassiana strains, 447 was the most virulent with confirmed and total mortalities of 45.9% and 89.8%, respectively. M. anisopliae 1037 had the highest conidial yield with mean of 3.37 x 10(12) conidia/kg of rice, followed by B. bassiana strain 447 with 2.66 x 10(12) conidia/kg of rice. The M. anisopliae strain 1037 was the highest virulent followed by B. bassiana strain 447. This strains showed the greatest potential as agents to be used in biological control programs against C. cumulans.
Entomophatogenic fungi; termits; biological control
