The bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis is very specific to larva of lepidoptera and very useful to control larvae of Spodoptera and Heliothis. Also the entomopathogenic fungi Metarrhizium anisopliae and Beauveria bassiana can be used aganist these caterpillars.
I should note that it is Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki (Btk) that is specific to Lepidoptera larvae (other subspecies/varieties are specific to other insect orders). Various formulations of Btk are commercially available.
DearJoseph,
Why you don't try entomopathogenic nematodes? They are very good in pathogenicity and can easily be isolated from the soil (if they are in). Their maintenance in the lab is also very easy and they produce high virulence against Lepidopteran insects. In S. litura, H. armigera and G. mellonella, as I tested they produced high mortality within 24-48 hours.
This is not your question but I would by far favor Baculoviruses ;-)
The bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis is very useful against lepidopteran larva and very useful to manage Spodoptera and Helicoverpa. The entomopathogenic fungi Metarrhizium anisopliae, Beauveria bassiana and Nomuraea rileyi
(Farlow) Samson can be used against these pests. You can purchase it from market, now a days these products are easily available in market.
If you are looking for commercial formulas you can try Spinosad, Bt or Baculovirus (SeMNPV)
Good day Joseph,
Adding to the above answers, a paper on the synergistic effect of Beauvaria bassiana combination with neem:
http://www.thejaps.org.pk/docs/v-22-1/29.pdf
Pierre (Martinique Island)
Review of various entomopathogens & biopesticides resistance:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4472983/
Pierre (Martinique Island)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4472983/pdf/fpls-06-00381.pdf
Diverse perspective with neem oil:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5061770/pdf/fpls-07-01494.pdf
On your question "How to get them?"
You can either isolate your entomopathogenic fungi from soil or dead insects and for bacteria from the soil; for this purpose, you can use specific selective media as for Metarizhium anisopilae and others:
1. Methods for isolation of entomopathogenic fungi from the soil environment;
http://orgprints.org/11200/1/11200.pdf
2. Read this to understand the ecology aspect of Beauvaria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopilae;
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.529.3127&rep=rep1&type=pdf
3. Read this as an example of media to isolate your entomopathogens:
If you want to use soil samples, you will need to do the appropriate dilution first in sterile distilled water in your lab.
http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1390&context=usdaarsfacpub
Copyright may apply outside of USA.
Pierre (Martinique Island)
Another helpful paper; on how to get them?
http://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/44417214/Occurrence_and_distribution_of_soil_borne_entomopathogenic.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A&Expires=1493999586&Signature=VPwxBmbkA2G2bC1Ix4xgHFNMMRY%3D&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DOccurrence_and_distribution_of_soil_born.pdf
You can simplify the methods without using the wax moth Galleria mellonella L. (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) as a bait by directly obtaining your intended isolated colonies knowing their morphological characteristics on the media (microbiologists help needed here for details). Use Tween 80 sterile solution for your dilution.
If you want to use dead insects (collected from the field) showing the whitish flowering aspect on their bodies, just put them inside the petri dish media and wait for colonies apparition.
Use that method for soil isolation of your entomopathogens. The first paper. Check others too.
12th MEETING
"FUTURE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE USE OF MICROBIAL AGENTS AND NEMATODES FOR BIOLOGICAL INSECT CONTROL" By ECOST - European Cooperation in Science and Technology.
A comprehensive plenary presentation with important keynotes speakers (16). Then points about:
1. Virus. 2. Bacteria. 3. Fungi. 4. Nematodes. 5. Soil Insect Pests. 6. Slug and Snails. 7. Miscellaneous .
http://www.iobc-wprs.org/restricted_member/iobc-wprs_bulletin_2009_45.pdf#page=342
These entomopathogenic fungi (Metarhizium anisopilae or Beauveria bassiana) or bacteria (Bacillus thuringiensis) have a widespread world distribution in tropical and temperate climate zones. Their isolation and selection are facilitated by this natural ecological factor.
Pierre (Martinique Island)
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Assessment of M. anisopliae in Laboratory.
Source of isolates.
Four isolates of M. anisopliae were used (Table 1) - Bp and MO from Universiti
Kebangsaan Malaysia and Ma and Ml from adults and larvae of 0. rhinoceros collected in Teluk Merbau Estate, Sepang, Selangor. These isolates were maintained on malt extract agar (MEA) (Oxoid, Unipath. Ltd. England) at 28°C
& 1°C (Joan Maxi Artic) in the dark. The spore dimensions of the isolates were measured. The spore length for Bp and MO were between 12-14 pm, and for Ma and Ml 6-8 pm. According to the system of Tulloch (1979) and Rombach et al. (19871, Bp and MO were identified as M. anisopliae var. major, and Ma and Ml as 1M. anisopliae var. anisopliae.
Additional :
Source of Fungal Isolate
The fungus M. anisopliae var. major was isolated from field-infected larvae using Metarhizium Selective Media (Ramle et al., 1999). To maintain a high fungal pathogenicity level, a single spore isolation method was performed. The pure single spore cultures were maintained on potato dextrose agar supplemented with 0.02% chloramphenicol to inhibit bacterial growth. The culture plates were then incubated at 28oC for 30 days. Spore suspensions were prepared by adding to the plates 10 ml of distilled water plus 0.02% Tween 80. The spores were separated from the media by scraping them off the media surface using an L-shaped inoculation needle.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ramle_Mslim/publication/265248838_Pathogenicity_of_granule_formulations_of_Metarhizium_anisopliae_against_the_larvae_of_the_oil_palm_rhinoceros_beetle_Oryctes_rhinoceros_L/links/5405e79c0cf23d9765a79818/Pathogenicity-of-granule-formulations-of-Metarhizium-anisopliae-against-the-larvae-of-the-oil-palm-rhinoceros-beetle-Oryctes-rhinoceros-L.pdf
Get the media original formulation from that (The Ramle et al 1999 is a modified one)
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256672212_A_selective_medium_for_isolation_of_Metarhizium_anisopliae_from_cattle_dung
All the best
Pierre (Martinique Island)
Article A selective medium for isolation of Metarhizium anisopliae f...
Article Pathogenicity of granule formulations of Metarhizium anisopl...
144
Hi Joseph
You can find many references on attachment 1
https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/6/2/352/pdf
155
2
http://www.acta-zoologica-bulgarica.eu/downloads/acta-zoologica-bulgarica/2013/65-2-179-186.pdf
4
https://www.insa.nic.in/writereaddata/UpLoadedFiles/PINSA/Vol80_2014_2_Art27.pdf
5
https://www.bulletinofinsectology.org/pdfarticles/vol66-2013-181-186ruiu.pdf
13
https://www.omicsonline.org/pathogenicity-of-three-entomopathogenic-fungi-against-helicoverpa-armigera-2157-7471.1000114.php?aid=2878
14
https://www.intechopen.com/books/current-progress-in-biological-research/microorganisms-in-biological-pest-control-a-review-bacterial-toxin-application-and-effect-of-environ
25
http://irbi.univ-tours.fr/uploads/pages/GIRONDavid/2014_Sugio_et_al._Journal_of_Experimental_Botany_2014.pdf
26
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1574-6968.2006.00388.x/full
27
https://www.academicjournals.org/journal/AJPS/article-full-text-pdf/44E16EE55510
28
https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/plantbiotechnology1997/16/4/16_4_255/_pdf
29
https://www.currentscience.ac.in/Downloads/article_id_086_06_0800_0814_0.pdf
31
https://agronomyjournal.usamv.ro/index.php/scientific-papers/current?id=624
34
https://bmcgenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2164-15-705
35
Book A Review of Biopesticides and Their Mode of Action Against I...
36
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/lifesci/research/entomopathogenicfungi/entomopathogens_and_biological_control.pdf
37
https://journals.tubitak.gov.tr/agriculture/issues/tar-14-38-1/tar-38-1-12-1302-65.pdf
38
http://www.frontiersin.org/Journal/DownloadFile/1/20440/55361/1/21/fpls-04-00287_pdf
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