ABSTRACT
This study was aimed to evaluate biological control using Metarhizium anisopliae (Metsch.) Sorok. (Deuteromycotina, Hyphomycetes, Moniliaceae) against the citrus borer Diploschema rotundicolle (Serville, 1834) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) on citrus crops in Araras, SP, Brazil, in 1990, associated with two rounds of pruning that removed affected branches. Treatments were arranged in a completely randomized block with 20 plants per treatment and four replicates. The fungus was introduced in the galleries of the citrus borer using larvae of Galleria mellonella L., 1758 (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) as vectors and by powdering it into the galleries. The applications of the fungus were carried out 60 days after the second pruning. The evaluations were realized 21 days after the inoculations of the fungus. The data did not present a significant difference between the 2 methods of applying the fungus and the pruning. The population mortality was 98.86% by insect vector, 98.37% by powdering and 90.79% by pruning. All treatments showed significant difference in relation to the control. The results indicate that combining the application of fungus with pruning of affected branches was effective in the control of D. rotundicolle.
KEY WORDS
Citrus crops; entomopathogenic fungus; microbial control; insecta