فعالية الفطر Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo)‎ Vuillemin الممرض للحشرات إزاء حشرة حافرة أوراق البندورة الطماطم Tuta absoluta (Meyrick)‎

Abstract EN

The tomato leaf minerTuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) is a destructive pest of tomato in the Mediterranean region.

Among the best strategies for effective and sustainable control of this invasive insect pest are the entomopathogenic fungi.

Beauveria bassiana is an important entomopathogen, and its capacity to colonize crop plants is becoming widely recognized.

Herein the ability of the isolates EPA2 and EPH1 of B.

bassiana to colonize tomato plants was tested.

The performance of the pest was affected by entomopathogen in plants in the field trial.

Results showed that both isolates colonized the leaves of tomato plants when inoculated as conidia.

Under field conditions, leaf infestation with the pest was significantly decreased when plants were treated by the two isolates, while the insect infested 30% of leaves in the untreated plots.

Less percentage of infested tomato fruits was recorded when plants were treated by both fungal isolates compared with untreated plants, where 44% of fruits was affected.

Accordingly, the endopytic isolates of B.

bassiana decreased the infestation levels of T.

absoluta in tomato field, which is of particular relevance for the design of efficient management strategies.

Keywords: Tomato leaf miner, Tuta absoluta, Endophyte, Beauveria bassiana.