Effect of talc based wettable powder formulation of Beauveria bassiana against non target organisms of rice ecosystem

Abstract

Impact of talc based wettable powder (WP) of Beauveria bassiana at a concentration of 1 × 107 conidia/ml and chlorpyriphos @ 0.025% was assessed on Trichogramma japonicum (egg parasitoid), Micraspis discolor (Coccinellidae), Lycosa pseudoannulata (spider), and Apanteles spp. (Larval parasitoid) both in vitro (laboratory) and in vivo (rice feld). In vitro WP did not show any deleterious effect on T. japonicum up to two generations, parasitization and parasitoid emergence were 73.2 and 90.8 per cent, respectively, which were signifcantly different from those treated with chlorpyriphos but at par with the control. The adult longevity and total life cycle duration were found to be same or slightly longer than the control. Under in vitro conditions, the WP ignifcantly encouraged the population build up of coccinellid beetle, spiders, as well as Apanteles spp.