Exploring the Potential of a Strain of Entomopathogenic Pestalotiopsis spp. in Controlling Aphrophora flavipes

Aphrophora flavipes is a main pest of Pinus densiflora, P. tabuliformis and Larix spp.The use of insecticide is still the most widely practiced and important management method in the control of A. flavipes.A promising alternative control method is the use of entomopathogenic fungi.In this study, normal tissue separation methods were used to isolate a new entomopathogenic fungal strain, named as SMC01 from the naturally infected A. flavipes collected from QinHuangdao City, Hebei Province, China.Based on morphological characteristics and ITS sequence analysis, SMC01 was identified as Pestalotiopsis spp.To determine its pathogenicity to A. flavipes, conidial suspension was sprayed on branches of P. tabuliformis infected with A. flavipes.To determine the potential harm to P. tabuliformis, the same spore suspension was sprayed on the healthy branches of P. tabuliformis and the growth was observed and recorded continuously.The results showed that SMC01 had a high toxicity to A. flavipes, 7 days after treatment, the adjusted mortality was 84%, which was significantly higher than that of control.There was no pathogenicity to P. tabuliformis.All the above results revealed the strain SMC01 is a potential candidate for controlling A. flavipes.