Effects of Wood Treated with the Entomopathogenic Fungus Metarhizium anisopliae Against the Termite Microcerotermes diversus

The entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae (Metschnikoff) Sorokin, causal agent of green muscardine of insects, is an important fungus in biological control of pests. No reports exist on the impact of this fungus on Microcerotermes diversus Silvestri (Iso.: Termitidae) in the world. The present research evaluated efficacy of Strain DEMI001, from Saravan, Iran, against M. diversus. The trials included baiting with treated wood under laboratory and field conditions. Bait test was conducted using two a) treated wood versus untreated filter paper, b) treated versus untreated wood. The lowest LC50 and LC90 values were found with treated wood vs. untreated filter paper, 7.6×105 and 2.8×106 (conidia/ml), respectively. In addition, the lowest LT50 (2.8 days) and LT90 (5.1 days) was obtained with 3.5×108 conidia/ml in conidial suspension of fungi in this test. In the field trial, after application of fungal pathogen, the average number of termites decreased from 1756 to 691 per wooden block. In addition, the mean wood consumption decreased from 59.75 to 27.81 g. Collectively, these results indicated this tactic (wood treated with the fungus) is effective for controlling M. diversus.