Efficacy of Metarhizium anisopliae to control adults of Haplaxius crudus (Van Duzee) (Hemiptera: Cixiidae), vector of lethal wilt disease of oil palm in Colombia

Haplaxius crudus(Van Duzee) is the vector of the pathogen that causes Lethal wilt disease, one of the most important diseases of oil palm in Colombia.Currently,H. cruduspopulations are controlled with calendar applications of chemical insecticides, however, their efficacy and effect on the ecosystem are unknown. The use of entomopathogenic fungi such asMetarhizium anisopliaemay be an alternative to control this pest in the crop since this fungus has been isolated from adults ofH. crudusfound in oil palm plantations. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of 10 native strains ofM. anisopliaeto control adults ofH. crudusunder laboratory and field conditions. The strain CPMa1309 was selected because it caused mortalities inH. crudusadults greater than 90% at a dose of 1 x 10(12)conidia/ha, as well as for its capacity to grow rapidly and produce large numbers of conidia on an artificial medium (4.95 x 10(7)conidia/ml). These results show the possibility of incorporating the fungusM. anisopliaeCPMa1309 in an integrated management program for the biological control ofH. crudusbut it is important to validate its effectiveness under different agro-ecological conditions, where oil palm grows in Colombia.