Evaluación de la eficacia de un consorcio entomopatógeno para el control de cochinilla harinosa (PLANOCOCCUS CITRI) ubicada en el campus María Auxiliadora de la Universidad Politécnica Salesiana

Abstract

In the city of Guayaquil, the mealybug pest supose a threat to different plant species. The incidence of these organisms has been reported since 2020, but due to the pandemic, measures were not applied in an early infestation stage, which is why it has spread uncontrollably throughout the city. And, although biological control type strategies have been used, such as, the use of one of their natural predators, ladybugs, it is possible to use other solutions such as the use of entomopathogenic fungi, this research aims to evaluate the effectiveness of an entomopathogenic composed of the species Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae, Lecanicillium lecanii and Purpureocillium lilacinum against the mealybug specie Planococcus citri on lemon plants. The experimental strategy was carried out on the properties of the Salesian Polytechnic University, María Auxiliadora campus. Planococcus citri were infected in lemon trees between 4 to 6 months, two weeks before the application of the treatments. The 7 treatments, except the application control, consisted of 3 different concentrations (200%, 100% and 50%) of the positive control (chemical detergent) and the entomopathogenic consortium. The mortality rate of scale insects and the effectiveness of the consortium were analyzed. Treatment 3 (100%) produced the highest mortality rate; while treatment 2, from the positive control, and treatment 3, from the entomopathogenic consortium, did not show significant differences in efficacy. In addition, chlorophyll was analyzed before and after treatment, resulting in treatment 3 showing significant differences against the positive control treatments.