FIRST RECORD OF Beauveria bassiana, A POTENTIAL BIOCONTROL AGENT FOR MANAGEMENT OF STEM BORERS

Acacia spp. and Eucalyptus hybrids are widely planted in Vietnam for wood products and rural development, and the total area is now about 2.75 million hectares. As the plantation area expands, insect pests have increased and they are causing serious damage to the forest estate. However, some parasitic entomopathogens have been recorded on pest species and these may have potential for future biocontrol. Entomopathogenic fungi isolated from parasitized larvae of Endoclita salvazi (isolate B2) and E. vietnamensis (isolate B3) were identified and their pathogenicity evaluated in trials. Based on the ITS, LSU and TEF1-α sequences, isolates B2 and B3 are Beauveria bassiana. These isolates had high pathogenicity, with the percentage of parasitized larvae being 74.5-76.8%. These findings provide further evidence for the effectiveness of B. bassiana isolates for the development of biopesticides.