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Title: INTRODUCTION OF THE ENTOMOPATHOGENIC FUNGUS ENTOMOPHAGA MAIMAIGA (ZYGOMYCETES:ENTOMOPHTHORALES) TO A LYMANTRIA DISPAR (LEPIDOPTERA: LYMANTRIIDAE) POPULATION IN BULGARIA

Author
item PILARSKA, D - INST.ZOOLOGY, BULGARIA
item MCMANUS, M - USDA FOREST SER.HAMDEN,CT
item HAJEK, A - CORNELL U, ITHACA, NY
item HERARD, F - ST GELY DU FESC, FRANCE
item Vega, Fernando
item PILARSKI, P - PLANT PHY.SOFIA,BLULGARIA

Submitted to: Journal of Pest Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/2/2000
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: The objective of this study was to introduce the fungal insect pathogen Entomophaga maimaiga in Bulgaria in an attempt to improve natural biological control of the gypsy moth, and to subsequently evaluate the impact and dissemination of the pathogen. At the end of the season 6% of recovered gypsy moth larvae contained conidia and resting spores of the fungus. On-going studies on dissemination of the pathogen will benefit IPM practitioners and scientists working on the biological control of the gypsy moth throughout the world.

Technical Abstract: Of all gypsy moth larvae collected after the introduction of the pathogen,6.3% contained conidia and resting spores of E. maimaiga, 14% contained parasitoids and 2% were infected with nucleopolyhedrovirus. E. maimaiga was not found in larvae collected from the control plot. The results obtained indicate that our attempt to introduce E. maimaiga in the Karlovo Forestry district in Bulgaria was successful, setting the stage for studies aimed at understanding the dissemination of the pathogen.