Biological Control of Hazelnut Weevil (Curculio Nucum L., Coleoptera, Curculionidae) Using the Entomopathogenic Fungus Beauveria Bassiana (Balsamo) Vuill. (Deuteromycotina, Hyphomycetes)

Abstract

The need to biologically control phytophagous insects has led researchers to consider using microorganisms to control insect pests in the field. On this basis, we decided to conduct field tests to determine the effectiveness of a commercial product made of Beauveria bassiana (Bals.) against the key hazelnut pest Curculio nucum L. Trials were carried out in a hazelnut orchard in the province of Viterbo (Italy). Three untreated control cages and three cages treated with the fungus entomopathogens were used during the tests. The cages were located under the hazelnut canopy and buried to half their height. 200 mature C. nucum larvae were placed in each cage and allowed to burrow naturally. After the larvae had buried themselves, a commercial product was applied to the three treated cages. Mortality was monitored during the following spring. The treated cages showed 99.5% C. nucum mortality as opposed to 63.5% for the untreated cages. These data show the effectiveness of the B. bassiana biological control on key insect pests for hazelnut trees in central Italy.

Isolation and characterization of entomopathogenic fungi from hazelnut-growing region of Turkey

“…Paparatti and Speranza (2005) tested the effectiveness of a commercial product of Beauveria bassiana against C. nucum in field trials. Cages treated with B. bassiana showed a 35% increase in larva mortality.…”

Early nut development as a resistance factor to the attacks of Curculio nucum (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

“…In Italy, C. nucum is reported as the key insect pest in the central‐southern regions, such as Latium (Paparatti & Speranza, 2005) and Campania (Viggiani, 1984); in fact, to define an economic threshold for treatment and implement integrated control strategies, biology and population dynamics of the nut weevil were investigated in hazelnut orchards of central Italy (Paparatti, 1990; Pucci, 1992). By contrast, in northwestern Italy, the main pests of hazelnut are the bud mite Phytoptus avellanae (Nalepa) and several true bugs, such as Gonocerus acuteangulatus (Goeze) and Palomena prasina (L.) (Minetti et al , 1986; Michelatti et al , 1994; Tavella et al , 1997, 2001).…”

Ecophysiological attributes of adult overwintering in insects: insights from a field study of the nut weevil, Curculio nucum

“…Everything else being equal, genotypes setting up one generation every 2 years should be readily counter-selected compared with genotypes breeding at a faster rate. Second, extending the pre-reproductive underground phase over several months could increase pre-reproductive mortality because of a greater risk of disease (due to entomopathogenic fungi Beauveria bassiana ; Paparatti & Speranza, 2005 ) or predation by small mammals ( Menu & Debouzie, 1993 ). Moreover, there are no obvious benefits from breeding every 2 years because hazelnut trees show no strong interannual variation of fruit production and thus provide C. nucum with a homogeneous resource over years ( Germain, 1994 ).…”