A Comparative Study on the Interaction Performance of the Striped Flea Beetle with Different Fungal Entomopathogens

Xinhua Pu, Xiangyu Hu, Ke Zhang, Alexander Berestetskiy, Vsevolod Dubovik, Qiongbo Hu and Qunfang Weng ()
Additional contact information
Xinhua Pu: National Key Lab of Green Pesticide, College of Plant Protection, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Xiangyu Hu: National Key Lab of Green Pesticide, College of Plant Protection, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Ke Zhang: National Key Lab of Green Pesticide, College of Plant Protection, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Alexander Berestetskiy: All-Russian Research Institute of Plant Protection, Saint-Petersburg 196608, Russia
Vsevolod Dubovik: All-Russian Research Institute of Plant Protection, Saint-Petersburg 196608, Russia
Qiongbo Hu: National Key Lab of Green Pesticide, College of Plant Protection, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Qunfang Weng: National Key Lab of Green Pesticide, College of Plant Protection, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China

Agriculture, 2025, vol. 15, issue 11, 1-12

Abstract: The striped flea beetle (SFB), Phyllotreta striolata , is a significant pest of cruciferous crops. Entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) hold great promise for the integrated pest management (IPM) of the SFB. However, the lack of understanding of the different interactions between the SFB and EPF restricts the development of mycoinsecticides. This study aims to elucidate the interaction performance of the SFB with three EPF— Beauveria bassiana BbPs01 (Bb), Metarhizium robertsii MrCb01 (Mr), and Cordyceps javanica IjH6102 (Cj). The bioassay results indicated that the virulences of EPF to the SFB adults were recorded as Bb > Mr > Cj. Then, the EPF with distinct infection pathways were observed, in which Bb penetrated the SFB cuticle via germ-tubes and appressoria, Mr typically invaded using appressoria, while Cj employed germ-tubes. Moreover, the SFB with different symptoms following infection by the EPF species were recorded. Bb primarily caused SFB adults to lose their appetite, become sluggish, and die rapidly. In contrast, SFB adults infected with Mr often experienced shivering, uncoordinated movement, and slower death. Cj-infected larvae frequently displayed dendrite-like melanization originating from the spiracles, while infected adults exhibited weak shivering and slow death, which seems similar to Mr. Our findings provide novel insights into the interactions between EPF and insects and offer valuable materials for enhancing the application of mycoinsecticides in the control of the SFB.

Keywords: Beauveria bassiana; Metarhizium robertsii; Cordyceps javanica; Phyllotreta striolata; infection; behavior (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/11/1188/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/11/1188/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:15:y:2025:i:11:p:1188-:d:1668372

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().