Optimizing Application Rates Of Metarhizium Brunneum (Hypocreales: Clavicipitaceae) Microsclerotia For Infecting The Invasive Asian Longhorned Beetle (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)

The Asian longhorned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis [Motschulsky]) is an invasive wood-boring beetle that threatens urban trees and forests in North America and Europe. The entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium brunneum Petch strain F52 can infect and kill A. glabripennis adults. Products containing this fungus were available for commercial use in the United States but not registered for Asian longhorned beetle. This study tested different formulations and application rates of M. brunneum F52 microsclerotial granules for their potential development for management of A. glabripennis adults. Three application rates of M. brunneum microsclerotial granules relative to a 1x formulation from previous experiments (0.03 g/cm(2); 2x = 0.06 g/cm(2) and 3x = 0.09 g/cm(2)) were exposed on tree trunks for 4-wk periods during May-September. Increased application rates had better retention (% of initial g applied) than the 1x rate, rather than greater weathering loss. Microsclerotia at the 2x application produced 5.05 x 10(6) conidia/cm(2), which was 18 times more conidia than the 1x application. Since A. glabripennis is under active eradication, bioassays with adult beetles were carried out in a quarantine laboratory, using the formulation samples from field exposures. The 2x application resulted in faster beetle mortality. The 3x and 2x rates were not significantly different in retention of the formulation, conidial production, or mortality, but 2x produced the most conidia per gram applied (3.92 x 10(9) conidia/g). An augmented formulation containing 70% M. brunneum by weight, rather than 50%, produced significantly more conidia and faster beetle mortality than the 50% formulation.