Are your blueberries also being attacked by grubs? (2)

In the previous article, we talked about the use of biological agents to deal with grubs. So today we will talk about Beauveria bassiana.

What are the characteristics of Beauveria bassiana? How to use it?

Beauveria bassiana is a fungal insecticide. Its insecticidal effect is mainly through the contact of spores with the insect body, germination under suitable temperature and temperature conditions, growth of bud tubes penetrating the insect body wall and extending into the insect body, producing a large number of hyphae and secreting toxins (beauveria toxin), affecting blood circulation, interfering with metabolism, making pests sick, and dying after about 4-5 days. The insect corpse is white and stiff, called a white muscardine. Because the surface of the insect body is covered with hyphae and white powdery spores, it is called "Beauveria bassiana". The spores on the insect corpse can be spread by wind, or the pests can actively contact the insect corpse and continue to infect other pests. The disease spreads and causes a large number of pests to die. An infection cycle is 7-10 days.

Beauveria bassiana is non-toxic to humans and animals, but some people have allergic reactions to Beauveria bassiana powder, and the symptoms are similar to those of a cold. People who are exposed to a large number of Beauveria bassiana spores may have symptoms of interstitial pneumonia. The test results also prove that long-term and repeated inhalation of Beauveria bassiana spores by mice will cause interstitial pneumonia and even early fibrosis and other changes, so safety precautions should still be taken when using it.

It is highly infectious to silkworms and is a devastating disease of silkworms. Do not use it in silkworm-raising areas.

Beauveria bassiana has a wide range of parasites, including more than 700 species of insects and 130 species of cricket mites. In production, it is mostly used to control pine caterpillars, pine ruler borers, pine tip borers, corn borers, soybean borers, peach borers, rice budworms and rice leafhoppers, cotton spiders, tea green leafhoppers, aphids, underground pests - grubs, etc. It can be sprayed, powdered, or spread with fungus soil. The concentration used is generally 100 million spores per milliliter, or 200 million spores per gram of fungus powder.

What pests can be controlled by Beauveria bassiana:

(1) Pine caterpillar

The best control effect is achieved when the larvae are in the early 3rd instar. Because the larvae of the 1st and 2nd instars are small, the chance of contact with Beauveria bassiana spores is small, while the larvae of the 4th instar and later instars have stronger antibacterial ability, and each instar will face molting in the later stages of development, so it is not suitable to apply pesticides. There are various ways to apply pesticides:

① Spray. Use 120-240 grams of 30 billion spores/gram oil suspension per mu, add 20 times the volume of No. 1 diesel to dilute, and use ultra-low volume spray. The effective spray width of aircraft spray can reach 150 meters.

Use 80-100 grams of 40 billion spores/gram wettable powder or 200-260 grams of 10 billion spores/gram wettable powder per mu, and spray on water.

② Hang powder belt. Put Beauveria bassiana powder into a gauze bag, 500 grams per bag, and hang it on the tree branches, 1 bag per mu. Let the Beauveria bassiana spores spread naturally.

③ Release live insects with bacteria. Prepare a bacterial solution with 500 million spores/ml, and walk in the forest where pine caterpillars occur, collect larvae from the trees, dip them in the bacterial solution and put them back on the trees, 50-100 insects per acre, and let them spread on their own.

④ Re-release the dead insects. Pick up the dead insects that have died and put them in the pine forest, about 100 insects per acre, to expand the infected area.

(2) Vegetable aphids

Use 100-120 ml of 10 billion spores/ml oil suspension per mu for ultra-low volume spraying. For normal volume spraying, the bacterial powder is generally prepared into a bacterial solution containing more than 100 million live spores per ml, or 100 dead insect corpses are ground into powder, and then 80-100 liters of water are added with 0.01% laundry detergent for spraying.

(3) Tea green leafhopper

Use 100-120 ml of 10 billion spores/ml oil suspension per mu for ultra-low volume spraying.

(4) Underground pests such as white grubs

For example, during the two periods of peanut sowing and inter-cultivation, 250-300 grams of 10 billion spores/gram wettable powder per mu are mixed with 30 kg of fine soil to make bacterial soil and spread.

(5) Corn borer

It is commonly used on spring corn in the north, and the main method used is to spread granules on the heart leaves. Mix 350g of 10 billion spores/g wettable powder with 5 dry grams of fine sand or slag (20-30 mesh) to make granules. Apply 1-2g per plant (about 4 trillion spores per mu) to the heart leaves of corn borers during the peak period of egg hatching. Spray a small amount of water on the granules before application to prevent the powder from flying and sticking to hands.

(6) Other pests

For the prevention and control of rice leafhoppers, spray 1 trillion spores per mu, spray 60 dry grams of bacterial solution, and keep water in the field for 3 days after spraying.

For the prevention and control of peach borers, use 70 billion spores per mu and spray the ground under the tree canopy. To improve the prevention effect, cover the ground with grass after spraying to make the unearthed larvae dead in large numbers.

For the prevention and control of longhorn beetles, mix 10 billion spores/g wettable powder with 50-100 times water, inject into the boreholes of longhorn beetles with a syringe or ear bulb, and inject 10-15 ml of bacterial solution into each hole.

Precautions for using Beauveria bassiana:

When using Beauveria bassiana to control pests, in order to obtain the best control effect, you must pay attention to the following:

(1) Look at the weather. Beauveria bassiana can only cause pests to become diseased when the temperature is 24-28℃ and the relative humidity is above 90%, because it needs to be between 15-30℃ and the relative humidity is 80%-100%. Generally, spraying should be done on cloudy days, after rain, or in the morning and evening when the humidity is high.

(2) Choose the appropriate insect age. For most pests, it is advisable to apply the solution during the peak period of egg hatching.

(3) The solution should be prepared and used immediately, and should be used up within 2 hours to prevent the spores from germinating prematurely and losing their ability to infect.

(4) When mixed with chemical insecticides, it is advisable to use it with a low dose of chemical insecticides in fields with high insect population density, especially in fields with older insect ages, so as to give full play to the rapid effect of chemical insecticides and the long-lasting effect of Beauveria bassiana.

How to use Beauveria bassiana:

(1) To control fruit borers on jujube and apple trees, spray a mixture of Beauveria bassiana powder (22 kg per 667 m2) and 25% parathion microcapsules (2015 g per 667 m2) on the ground under the trees when the overwintering larvae of peach borers emerge from the soil and the first generation of larvae begin to shed fruit. The larval killing effect is better than that of a single agent. To control pests such as spur moths, moths, and weevils, the use of Beauveria bassiana powder dilution is also effective.

(2) To control lepidopteran larvae on jujube and other fruit trees, spray 300 times Beauveria bassiana liquid on the tree crown and ground at the early stage of the occurrence of young larvae and the peak period of egg hatching. This has a certain effect on controlling the damage of the current generation of larvae and has a good effect on controlling the damage of the next generation of larvae (turning the first and second generation pupae into stiff pupae).

(3) To prevent and control stink bugs, spray 300 times dilution of Beauveria bassiana on the tree crowns and ground during the early stage of stink bug nymph outbreaks from April to June. You can also crush the bodies of litchi bugs that died from natural infection with Beauveria bassiana and spray the liquid on the ground, which also has a good effect. In autumn and winter, there are many bodies of litchi bugs that died from natural infection with Beauveria bassiana in the fields, so you should pay attention to collecting them.

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