Geographical Distribution of Sugarcane Longhorn Stem Borer, Dorysthenes buqueti Guerin (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) and Virulence Bioassay of Metarhizium anisopliae (Metchnikoff) Sorokin Isolates

Abstract

Sugarcane stem boring grub; Dorysthenes buqueti Guerin (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) recently become a serious insect pest of sugarcane. The severe injury by D. buqueti has been extended to sugarcane growing areas i.e.; East and Northeastern region of Thailand -. It can cause more than 70% yield loss in the outbreak areas. This insect pest attack sugarcane plant by the larval instar bores into the ratoon or the base of stalk and feed sugarcane tissue inside; which results the whole plant turned brown and die. Moreover; it can attack cassava stem and tuber that found in Kanchanaburi province. The concern of extensive insecticide application has been enforced explorations of natural enemies to control D. buqueti. Metarhizium anisopliae (Metchnikoff) Sorokin is a soil borne entomopathogenic fungus had been reported to exploiting to control D. buqueti in sugarcane fields. Metarhizium spp. are always designated as soil saprophytes that were observed in associations with plant roots in the rhizosphere stage and survive well in that environment over the longtime [1]. The Green Abstract