Study on efficiency of different isolates of Lecanicillium muscarium against Pulvinaria aurantii

Orange pulvinaria scale, Pulvinaria aurantii, is one of the most important pests on citrus in Iran. It causes economic damage on the citrus products, annually. The present investigation was conducted to identify different isolates of entomopathogenic fungus, Lecanicillium muscarium and it's efficiency against P. aurantii. Nine isolates of L. muscarium were collected from infected orange pulvinaria scale in west of Mazandaran and east of Guilan provinces. For evaluation of these isolates against P. aurantii, a suspension of 5×106 spore/ml was sprayed on it. In this regard, a completely randomized design with 10 treatments and 4 replications were used. The mortality percentage of each isolate on P. aurantii was calculated and the results showed that treatments had significant differences with each other. The comparison of mean treatments showed that isolates 6, 7, 8 and 9 produced the highest and isolates 2 and 5 produced the lowest mortality percentage. Thus, L. muscarium is pathogenic on P. aurantii and according to high mortality on it, could be as an effective microbial agent in reducing pest population.