Effect of gamma irradiation and/or certain entomopathogenic fungi on the larval Mortality of Galleria mellonella L

Abstract

Abstract The present investigation was carried out to study the effect of LC50 of the entomopathogenic fungi (EPF), Paecilomyces lilacinus and Beauveria bassiana, on larval mortality of the greater wax moth (GWM), Galleria mellonella L., under laboratory conditions and also to study the effect of different doses of gamma irradiation (70, 100, 125, and 150 Gy), separately or combined with the LC50 of the isolates of the EPF, B. bassiana, and P. lilacinus, on the second-instar larvae of G. mellonella larval mortality. The combined treatment of gamma irradiation and EPF increased the larval mortality rates than that at each treatment alone. The highest percentage of larval mortality was 78 and 84%, with 125 Gy + B. bassiana in the case of F1 male and F1 female, respectively. According to the obtained results, the gamma irradiation increased the pathogenicity of the fungi against the tested larvae. The combination between the two control tools may provide satisfactory control of the insect-pest, especially, in the storage.

Keywords

• Gamma irradiation
• Entomopathogenic fungi
• Galleria mellonella
• Control