Journal of Biological Control

145-151

Authors: A. N. Shylesha, S. K. Jalali, Ankita Gupta, Richa Varshney, T. Venkatesan, Pradeeksha Shetty, Rakshit Ojha, Prabhu C. Ganiger, Omprakash Navik, K. Subaharan, N. Bakthavatsalam, Chandish R. Ballal, A. Raghavendra

Occurrence of Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), commonly known as fall armyworm, in southern India is reported along with associated natural enemies. Severe damage was noticed in Chikkaballapur, Hassan, Shivamogga, Davanagere and Chitradurga during July-August 2018. The incidence ranged from 9.0 to 62.5 percent at various locations, maximum incidence was recorded in Hassan district followed by Chikkaballapur, Davanagere, Shivamogga and Chitradurga. Morphology and molecular based taxonomic tools were used for the identification of this pest. The GenBank accession number MH704433 of Chikkaballapur population was released on 1^st August, 2018 and Barcode obtained from BOLD System-ID: AGIMP054-18. The survey also revealed natural parasitism by egg parasitoids viz., Telenomus sp. (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) and Trichogramma sp. (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae), gregarious larval parasitoid, Glyptapanteles creatonoti (Viereck) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) solitary larval parasitoid, Campoletis chlorideae Uchida (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae), and a solitary indeterminate larval-pupal (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Ichneumoninae) parasitoid. Spodoptera frugiperda is the first host record for G. creatonoti across the globe. Glyptapanteles creatonoti, being a well established parasitoid of various noctuids in India and Malaysia, was capable of parasitizing S. frugiperda. Besides these, other commonly found bioagents viz., Forficula sp. (Dermaptera: Forficulidae) and entomopathogenic fungus Nomuraea rileyi (Farl.) Samson was also collected in large numbers. We report the natural enemy complex of S. frugiperda for the first time from India. The electro physiological response of Indian population of S. frugiperda male adults to pheromone was established. The studies to manage this pest by any/all means are in progress.

155-159

Authors: V. S. Indhumathi, P. Chandramani, J. Jayaraj, C. Chinniah, P. P. Mahendran, K. Kumutha

To evaluate the effect of four silicon fertilizers, field experiment was conducted in farmer’s holding at Poovanthi village of Sivagangai district, Tamil Nadu during 2017-2018 against sugarcane leaf hopper, Pyrilla perpusilla Walker and its parasitoid, Epiricania melanoleuca (Fletcher). Silicon fertilizers were applied @ 500 and 1000 kg ha^-1 before planting and the leaf hopper population was recorded at 150, 180, 210, 240 and 270 days after application. The results of field experiment revealed that Pyrilla population was minimum in the plots treated with calcium silicate @ 1000 kg ha^-1 (8.20 numbers/leaf) followed by calcium silicate @ 500 kg ha^-1 (8.80 numbers/leaf) as compared over untreated check (98.20 numbers/leaf) and the percent reduction over untreated check was 82.45 and 73.71 per cent, respectively. Similarly, the per cent parasitism was maximum in the treatment with calcium silicate @ 1000 kg ha^-1 (82.33%) during November, which was on par with untreated check. Hence, Pyrilla population declined to an extent of 82.45 per cent by enhancement of E. melanoleuca parasitism (82.33 %) due to the application of silicon fertilizers.

165-171

Authors: B. Ramanujam, B. Poornesha

Glasshouse experiments were conducted to establish an indigenous soil-derived strain of Metarhizium anisopliae (ICAR-NBAIR Ma-35) as endophyte in maize and sorghum by artificial inoculation through foliar spray of conidial suspension. Colonization of M. anisopliae were studied at 15, 30, 45, 60, 75 and 90 Days After Treatment (DAT) in stem and leaf tissues of maize and sorghum by plating technique and PCR method. Metarhizium anisopliae showed variation with regard to the extent of colonization in stem and leaf tissues of maize and sorghum. In maize, colonization was observed at 30DAT in stem and 30-45DAT in leaf. In sorghum, colonization of M. anisopliae was observed during 15-60DAT in stem and 15-75DAT in leaf indicating longer persistence compared to maize. Colonization of M. anisopliae was observed in young growing stem tips and leaves (unsprayed) indicating the internal spread of M. anisopliae in maize and sorghum plants. M. anisopliae was not detected in the untreated stem and leaf tissues of maize and sorghum. The positive results of colonization of M. anisopliae in maize and sorghum stem/leaf tissues observed in plating technique were confirmed by the PCR amplification.

179-186

Authors: Saroja, Basavaraj Kalmath, M. Bheemanna, A. Prabhuraj

Radiation severely inactivates the potency of Bacillus thuringiensis spores and crystals present in sprayed formulations leading to decreased efficacy in field. Incorporation of UV protectants to biopesticides is one of the methods to protect against radiation damage. Keeping this as objective, a native isolate BGC-1 was selected for preparation and evaluation of wettable powder formulation against second instar larvae of Helicoverpa armigera. Median lethal concentration of the BGC-1 was 1.05 g/l and assigned biopotency value was 15428.57 ITU/g. UV protectants viz., melanin, para-amino benzoic acid, polyvinyl alcohol and Congo red were evaluated by exposing formulated solution to sunlight at different intervals of time. Among four UV protectants, melanin showed an excellent UV protecting ability with the mortality of 86.67 per cent and, 116.49 μg/ml of crude protein at 5 h sunlight exposure with temperature of 43.6°C and light intensity of 4.93×10⁵ lux followed by 80.00 per cent mortality, 1.74×10⁸ CFU/ml and 109.40 μg/ml of crude protein in para-amino benzoic acid UV protectant. Next best UV protectant was congo red with the mortality of 73.33 per cent and, 90.76 μg/ml of crude protein and 1.26×10⁸ CFU/ml. It is concluded that melanin was found to be an effective UV protectant for B. thuringiensis WP formulations against H. armigera.

193-202

Authors: Prasanna Holajjer, R. Dey, K. K. Pal, K. Chakraborty, G. Harish, M. V. Nataraja, E. Deepak

The primary objective of this study was to identify natural isolates of fluorescent pseudomonads with superior antagonistic activity towards plant parasitic nematodes. Nematicidal potential of eighteen isolates of fluorescent pseudomonads were compared against peanut root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne arenaria. Cell-free culture filtrate of DAPG-producing isolates of Pseudomonas putida caused significantly higher mortality of M. arenaria (J2) with highest in isolate DAPG3 (87.36%), followed by DAPG1 (84.16%) compared to other isolates of fluorescent pseudomonads, i.e., P. gessardii BHU1 and P. aeruginosa BM6 after exposure period of 72h at 100% concentration. The selected DAPG-producing isolates of P. putida caused significant inhibition in egg hatching. The lowest cumulative per cent hatch of M. arenaria was observed in the isolate DAPG3 (17.84%) followed by DAPG1 (18.10%). The isolates DAPG1 and DAPG3 also inhibited the nematode invasion in the roots of peanut by 41.30% and 36.34%, respectively. Significant reduction in number of galls/plant in peanut roots was recorded. The maximum reduction (51.30%) in root galling was recorded with combination of seed treatment and soil application of P. putida DAPG1 followed by 41.73% in combined treatment of seed treatment and soil application of P. putida DAPG3. The levels of Peroxidase (POD), Catalase (CAT) and Polyphenol Oxidase (PPO) were non-significant in the leaves of peanut in the treatment that received P. putida DAPG1 and DAPG3, either as seed treatment and/or soil application, compared to inoculated and un-inoculated control. However, significantly enhanced phenol content was recorded in the leaves of peanut in the treatment that received combination of seed treatment and soil application of P. putida DAPG1 and seed treatment alone.

209-211

Authors: A. N. Shylesha, Achanta Sravika

Two species of predacious bugs, Eocanthecona furcellata (Wolff) and Andrallus spinidens (Fabr.) (Hemiptera:Pentatomidae) were found effectively preying on Spodoptera frugiperda (Smith) in organically grown maize from 28 to 56 days at GKVK, Bangalore. Population of E. furcellata in one square metre was more than A. spinidens during the 38^th and 39^th standard meteorological weeks. Adults and nymphs of both the species preyed on different stages of S. frugiperda larvae. These two species being initial colonizers has a potential in integrated management of fall army worm.