Mycoinsecticides and Mycoacaricides: A comprehensive list with worldwide coverage and international classification of formulation types

Abstract

A substantial number of mycoinsecticides and mycoacaricides have been developed worldwide since the 1960s. Here we present an updated, comprehensive list of these products. At least 12 species or subspecies (varieties) of fungi have been employed as active ingredients of mycoinsecticides and mycoacaricides for inundative and inoculative applications, although some are no longer in use. Products based on Beauveria bassiana (33.9%), Metarhizium anisopliae (33.9%), Isaria fumosorosea (5.8%), and B. brongniartii (4.1%) are the most common among the 171 products presented in this paper. Approximately 75% of all listed products are currently registered, undergoing registration or commercially available (in some cases without registration), whereas 15% are no longer available. We were unable to determine the status of the remaining 10%. Insects in the orders Hemiptera, Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Thysanoptera, and Orthoptera comprise most of the targets, distributed among at least 48 families. A total of 28 products are claimed to control acarines (mites and ticks) in at least 4 families, although only three products (all based on Hirsutella thompsonii) were exclusively developed as acaricides. Eleven different technical grade active ingredients or formulation types have been identified, with technical concentrates (fungus-colonized substrates) (26.3%), wettable powders (20.5%) and oil dispersions (15.2%) being most common. Approximately 43% of all products were developed by South American companies and institutions. Currently, what may be the largest single microbial control program using fungi involves the use of M. anisopliae for control of spittlebugs (Cercopidae) in South American sugarcane and pastures.

Introduction

The first attempt to control a pest with a fungal agent was carried out in Russia in 1888, when the fungus now known as Metarhizium anisopliae (Metschn.) Sorokīn was mass produced on beer mash and sprayed in the field for control of the beet weevil Cleonus punctiventris (Germar) (Lord, 2005). Boverin, a Beauveria bassiana-based mycoinsecticide for control of the Colorado potato beetle and codling moth in the former USSR, was developed in 1965 (Kendrick, 2000). Mycar, a mycoacaricide based on Hirsutella thompsonii Fisher, was granted a full registration by the US Environmental Protection Agency in 1981 for control of the citrus rust mite, Phyllocoptruta oleivora (Ashmead), in the United States (McCoy, 1986). Research and development efforts have increased markedly in recent years, and a considerable number of fungus-based biopesticides have been developed for control of insects and acarines (mites and ticks) in agricultural, urban, forest, livestock and aquatic environments. In the following discussion, these mycoinsecticides/mycoacaricides will be referred to as mycopesticides, a term that also embraces other fungal biological products not considered in this paper, such as mycoherbicides and mycofungicides.

There are many recent reviews discussing the efficacy, contemporary advances, future trends, and regulatory aspects of mycopesticides (Copping and Menn, 2000, Neale, 2000, Inglis et al., 2001, Wraight et al., 2001, Castrillo et al., 2005). Although numerous lists of developed mycopesticides are available (Tengerdy and Szakács, 1998, Butt et al., 1999, Butt and Copping, 2000, Hajek et al., 2001, Stewart, 2001, Wraight et al., 2001, Leite et al., 2003a, Copping, 2004, Hynes and Boyetchko, 2006), many of these are deficient, especially in terms of worldwide coverage.

This study aimed to assemble a comprehensive list of mycopesticides developed worldwide over the last four decades. In addition, we have attempted to review and standardize the nomenclature of formulation types so far employed for these biocontrol agents. Use of fungal agents through conservation and classical biological control strategies is discussed elsewhere (Pell et al., 2001, Hajek et al., 2003, Shah and Pell, 2003).