Pathogenicity and Growth Temperature of Three Isolates of Entomopathogenic Fungi Isolated from the Asian Citrus Psyllid, Diaphorina citri（Hemiptera: Liviidae）, Found in Amami and Okinawa, Japan

Abstract

: Two isolates of Beauveria bassiana （ Balsamo-Crivelli ） Vuillemin and one isolate of Isaria fumosorosea Wize were isolated from Diaphorina citri Kuwayama （ Hemiptera: Liviidae ） , a vector of huanglongbing （ citrus greening disease ） . The ability of these isolates to kill D. citri , two Cacopsylla species （ Hemiptera: Psyllidae ） , and the brown citrus aphid, Toxoptera citricida （ Kirkaldy ） and the effect of temperature in vitro on their growth were investigated. Infection with all three isolates resulted in high mortality for D. citri . In the Cacopsylla spp. and T. citricida , some isolates caused consistent mortality, but this varied among isolates. Mycelial growth of the three isolates was vigor- ous at 20–30 (cid:155) C. The two isolates of B. bassiana grew well at 25 (cid:155) C, while the I. fumosorosea isolate grew well at 25–30 (cid:155) C, indicating that the optimal growth temperature varied among the isolates.