The mortality of Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Meyrick) final instar larvae exposed to the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin : short communication

The recent worldwide trend in food safety is placing more pressure on the use of synthetic pesticides in human food production. The lowering of minimum allowable pesticide residue limits is effectively causing the loss of pesticides that have served humankind for decades. Research programmes by institutions are placing more focus on the use of biological control agents that are formulated as conventional pesticides (biopesticides). A good example is a commercial preparation of a granulovirus currently registered in South Africa that can be bought, stored and sprayed using conventional machines to control a phytosanitary pest such as false codling moth (Thaumatotibia leucotreta) (Moore et al. 2005; National Department of Agriculture 2007). Currently three Beauveria bassiana preparations are registered in South Africa against plant pests such as aphids, weevils and nematodes (National Department of Agriculture 2007). The virulence of B. bassiana is constantly being improved by selection and genetic engineering techniques (Yanhau et al. 2007). The renewed interest in biological pesticides in the South African fruit industry prompted the author to review results of unpublished research conducted in 1986.