Efficacy of Entomopathogenic Fungi against Sapota Fruit Mite, Tuckerella kumaonensis Gupta (Tuckerellidae: Acari) under Laboratory Condition

Abstract

A laboratory investigation was conducted during 2020 and 2021 at Biocontrol Laboratory, N. M. College of Agriculture, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari, Gujarat, to test the efficacy of different entomopathogenic fungi against sapota fruit mite, Tuckerella kumaonensis Gupta infesting sapota. Among the various entomopathogenic fungi, the treatment of Beauveria bassiana (1×10⁸ cfu/g) @ 4g/l found significantly superior (62.03% mortality) over the rest of the treatments. However, the treatment of Lecanicillium lecanii (1×10⁸ cfu/g) @ 4g/l registered 45.41 per cent mortality and found the next best treatment against sapota fruit mite and was statistically at par with the treatment of Metarhizium anisopliae (1×10⁸ cfu/g) @ 4g/l (42.39% mortality). The treatments of Hirsutella thompsonii (1×10⁸ cfu/g) @ 4g/l found to be least effective against sapota fruit mite (31.04% mortality).