Resumen

RODRIGUEZ, Marta; FRANCE, Andrés  y  GERDING, Macarena. Evaluation of two strains of Metarhizium anisopliae var. anisopliae (Metsh.) for control of white grub Hylamorpha elegans Burm. (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) larvae. Agric. Téc. [online]. 2004, vol.64, n.1, pp. 17-24. ISSN 0365-2807.  doi: 10.4067/S0365-28072004000100002.

The white grub, Hylamorpha elegans Burm., is a serious pest on cereals and pastures in Chile. In laboratory and greenhouse studies, the pathogenicity of two Metarhizium anisopliae var. anisopliae (Metsh.) isolates: Qu-M270 and Qu-M802 on H. elegans larvae was evaluated. The first evaluation was carried out by immersion of third instar larvae in increasing suspensions, 0 to 10⁸ conidia mL^-1 of each isolate. The area under an accumulated mortality curve was calculated, observing differences (P = 0.032) between the isolates, with Qu-M270 being 50% superior to Qu-M802. The LC₅₀ and LC₉₀ for Qu-M270 were 10^4.7 and 10^7.5 conidia mL^-1, respectively. The greenhouse evaluation was carried out in pots with pasteurized soil and 10 larvae of H. elegans, on which four suspensions (0 to 10¹⁴ conidia ha^-1) were pulverized. After thirty days, there were no significant differences in the mortality between doses of 10¹³ and 10¹⁴ conidia ha^-1 (P < 0.05), with 95 and 94% of larval mortality, respectively, but there was a difference at 10¹² conidia ha^-1 (P = 0.045) with 74% mortality. It is concluded that Qu-M270 was more effective in the control of H. elegans larvae.

Palabras clave : biological control; entomopathogenic fungi; white grub; scarabs; insect pathology.