title: Horizontal Transmission of the Entomopathogen Fungus Metarhizium anisopliae in Microcerotermes diversus Groups.
abstract: An experiment was carried out in order to investigate fungal conidia transmission of Metarhizium anisopliae (Metschnikoff) Sorokin from vector (donor) to healthy Microcerotermes diversus Silvestri (Iso.: Termitidae) and determine the best donor/concentration ratio for transmission. After preliminary trials, concentrations of 3.1 × 10⁴, 3.9 × 10⁵, 3.2 × 10⁶ and 3.5 × 10(8) conidia mL(-1) were selected for testing. The experiment was performed at three donor : Recipient ratios of 10, 30 and 50%. The highest mortality of recipient workers was observed after 14 days at the concentration of 3.5 × 10⁸ conidia mL(-1) and donor ratio of 50%. The mortality of recipient workers was less than 20% at all concentrations at a donor ratio of 10%. Our observations indicate social behavior of M. diversus, such as grooming, can be effective in promoting epizootic outbreaks in a colony. While the current results suggest good potential for efficacy, the use of M. anisopliae as a component of integrated pest management of M. diversus still needs to be proven under field conditions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz 61357-831351, Iran. amircheraghi2009@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Amir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cheraghi
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz 61357-831351, Iran. habibpour_b@scu.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Behzad
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Habibpour
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz 61357-831351, Iran. ms.mossadegh@scu.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Mohammad Saied
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Mossadegh
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Entomology, College of Health, Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, 61357-15751, Iran. sharififardm@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Mona
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sharififard
keywords: biological control; recipient; termites; vector