Morphological characteristic and conidia germination of entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae var anisopliae isolated of scarabaeidae and curculionidae larvae

Abstract

Ten strains of Metarhizium anisopliae var anisopliae obtained from Hylamorpha elegans, Phytoloema hermanni, Schizochellus breviventris and Brachysternus prasinus (Coleoptera: Escarabaeidae) and Graphognathus leucoloma and Aeghorhinus sp. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) larvae coming from soil with natural grassland of three different edaphoclimatic areas (pre-mountain chain, central valle and coastal dry land of the 9th Region). The strains were characterized considering conidia morphology and germination.
The characteristic conidia form was observed in the strains of M. anisopliae var. anisopliae. The growth and colour of colony were different amony strains. The conidia mean size was 6.0 mm long (5.2 -7.1 mm) and 2.2 mm wide (2.0- 2.6 mm). Conidia mean germination varied significantly among the strains with a 24 to 92.3% range and a mean of 49.3%, for those coming from scarabeides and 83.8% for the ones from curculionides.