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Abstract
Susceptibility of
Lymantria monacha larvae to
Entomophaga maimaiga was investigated under laboratory and field conditions, using larvae of the natural host,
Lymantria dispar, as positive controls. In laboratory bioassays,
L. monacha and
L. dispar were injected with protoplasts of two isolates of
E. maimaiga and mortality was monitored for 20 days. While virtually all injected
L. dispar died, with ST50s (median survival times for 50% of insects injected with the two isolates) of six - seven days, only 65.6-86.7% of the injected
L. monacha died, with ST50s of 11-17 days. Both isolates produced conidia and resting spores more frequently within dead
L. dispar than
L. monacha. In more ecologically relevant host range assays, larvae of both species were exposed to germinating soil-borne
E. maimaiga resting spores in the laboratory. More
L. dispar than
L. monacha larvae died after these exposures. However, while resting spores were formed within 100% of
L. dispar larvae that died, significantly fewer (10%) dead
L. monacha contained resting spores. When
L.
monacha larvae were collected during an
E. maimaiga epizootic occurring in a sympatric
L. dispar population, only 0.2 % of the
L. monacha died and produced spores. These findings corroborate those of previous studies reporting a narrow host range for this fungal pathogen.
Citation
Pilarska, Daniela; Hajek, Ann E.; Keena, Melody; Linde, Andreas; Kereselidze, Manana; Georgiev, Georgi; Georgieva, Margarita; Mirchev, Plamen; Takov, Danail; Draganova, Slavimira. 2016. Susceptibility of larvae of nun moth,
Lymantria monacha (Linnaeus 1758) (Lepidoptera), to the entomopathogenic fungus,
Entomophaga maimaiga Humber, Shimazu and Soper (Entomophthorales) under laboratory and field conditions. Acta Zoologica Bulgarica. 68(1): 117-126.
