Turkiye Entomoloji Dergisi, cilt.38, sa.3, ss.351-362, 2014 (SCI-Expanded)
This study evaluates the entomopathogenic fungus, Lecanicillium lecanii (Sordariomycetes: Hypocreales) for prevalence in citrus orchards of Hatay and effectiveness in controlling some phytophagous Hemiptera species. Experiments were conducted under both field conditions and laboratory conditions at 25±3°C and 80±5% relative humidity (RH) under 16:8 hour L:D photoperiod using 1×107 conidia ml-1 concentration of L. lecanii. Infected individuals were counted 5 to 10 days after inoculation. In laboratory conditions, the average mortality due to L. lecanii was 47.54% (23.03-74.55%) on Coccus hesperidum L. (Hemiptera: Coccidae), 61.42% (10.64-100%) on Aphis gossypii Glov., 84.02% (57.39-100%) on Macrosiphum rosae L. (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and 46.63% (22.35-77.36%) on Bemisia tabaci Genn. (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae). The fungus did not colonize on Ceroplastes floridensis Comst. (Hemiptera: Coccoidae) and Planococcus citri Risso (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) at all. The findings revealed that entomopathogenic fungus under field conditions was found to be effective on C. hesperidum and M. rosae resulting in 78.05% (50.25-87.76%) and 78.82% (26.46-100%) mortality, respectively; there was no effect on C. floridensis. It can be suggested that the incorporation of this entomopathogenic fungus into the agricultural areas would be useful in terms of integrated pest management strategies.