title: Toxicity of an isolate of Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies darmstadiensis to adults of the Mexican fruit fly (diptera: (Diptera:Tephritidae) in the laboratory.
abstract: Centrifugation pellets obtained from an isolate of Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies darmstadiensis (Guat 1) cultured from a Guatemalan soil sample were found to be toxic to Anastrepha ludens (Loew) adults in the laboratory. We developed a bioassay diet that consisted of a mixture of the bacterium, a protein source, and sugar. A pH of 4.1 of the mixture was needed to obtain maximum adult mortality. One meal of the diet, which lasted from 30 s to 4 min, was enough to cause > 70% mortality of both fed or starved adults. Mortality of fed adults was 70-75% following a feeding period of 60 min and mortality of starved adults was 80-90% following a feeding period of 30 min. The isolate was toxic to adults from 1 to 21 d old.
authors.affiliation: Mission Biological Control Center, USDA, TX 78573, USA.
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Martinez
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Robacker
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Garcia
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001413:Bacillus thuringiensis; D004175:Diptera / Q000382:microbiology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D010572:Pest Control, Biological; D013045:Species Specificity; D013997:Time Factors