Nematophagous fungus Paecilomyces lilacinus (Thom) Samson is also a biological agent for control of greenhouse insects and mite pests

Abstract

Pathogenicity of nematophagous fungus Paecilomyces lilacinus (Thom) Samson in control of the most destructive greenhouse pests such as: greenhouse whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum, glasshouse red spider mite, Tetranychus urticae, the cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii and western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis was examined in laboratory and pot experiments. The fungus showed the greatest efficacy in controlling winged and wingless forms of the cotton aphid. The cotton aphid's population was almost totally eliminated. In controlling the greenhouse whitefly, P. lilacinus was most successful when applied against nymphal growth stages (L 3 -L 4 ). Control of the western flower thrips was most efficient against prepupal and pupal stages when the fungus was applied as a water spore suspension to the soil. When the fungus was applied at temperatures below 10°C, it was able to reduce a glasshouse red spider mite population by 60%.

Newly Isolated Paecilomyces lilacinus and Paecilomyces javanicus as Novel Biocontrol Agents for Plutella xylostella and Spodoptera litura

“…Isarioidea contains mesophiles, including several well-known entomopathogenic or nematophagous species, such as Paecilomyces lilacinus and P. javanicus (Samson, 1974;Kepenekci et al, 2015). Paecilomyces lilacinus is a soil fungus and has been used as an efficient and common nematicide (Kiewnick and Sikora, 2006;Siddiqui and Futai, 2009;Kepenekci et al, 2015), and also as a controller of greenhouse insects and mite pests (Fiedler and Sosnowska, 2007;Wraigt et al, 2000;Zawadneak et al, 2015). To date, no comparison of the efficacy of different P. lilacinus and P. javanicus isolates against diamondback moth (Pl.…”

Preliminary Evaluation of Paecilomyces lilacinus HY-4 to Control Tetranychus urticae

“…was considered as promising fungi for two-spotted spider mite control (Tamai et al, 2002a). Paecilomyces lilacinus is a commonly isolated form soil and as one of the effective biological control agents against plant-pathogenic nematodes and pest (Marti et al, 2006;Fiedler and Sosnowska, 2007;Demirci and Denizhan. 2010).…”

<I>Paecilomyces lilacinus</I>: An Emerging Pathogen

“…Genus Purpureocillium contains the single species Purpureocillium lilacinum 8 . P. lilacinum may be entomopathogenic 9,10 , mycoparasitic 11 , saprophytic, nematophagous as well as an emerging human pathogen. A peculiar characteristic of P. lilacinus is its ability to sporulate in infected tissue, can be helpful in the diagnosis of these infections.…”