ABSTRACT
The species of aphids Aphis gossypii and Myzus persicae are cosmopolitan and polyphagous, causing damage to cultivated plants. The present study evaluated the consumption of A. gossypii and M. persicae infected with entomopathogenic fungi by O. insidiosus. Arenas were made with Petri dishes with a cotton foliar disk with 4.5 cm of diameter (for A. gossypii) and a pepper foliar disk (for M. persicae) at the center. The inoculation of the fungi (Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae, Isaria fumosorosea and Lecanicillium lecanii) was done through the addition of 1 mL of the fungal suspensions in the concentration of 1.0 x 105 and 1.0 x 107 conidia/mL on the Petri dish. The aphids were offered to a female of the predator, released to the dish at different periods of time after inoculation. There was also a treatment in which the female of the predator was released with dead aphids, already in the phase of conidiogenesis. The females were removed from the dishes 24 hours following release, followed by evaluation of aphids consumption. The consumption was significantly lower for releases 24 hours after inoculation, when compared with the control, for the two species of aphids studied. The consumption of aphids was lower for releases made 24–48 hours after inoculation, compared to the control. For releases 72 hours after inoculation, and after conidiogenesis, aphids consumption was not observed for the two concentrations, thus evidencing the discriminatory capacity of the predator, which is able to recognize the prey infected by pathogen.
KEY WORDS
Beauveria bassiana,
;
Metarhizium anisopliae
; Isaria fumosorosea and Lecanicillium lecanii entomopathogens; predator; aphid