Management of the banana weevil (Cosmopolites sordidus, Germar) Coleoptera: Curculionidae) with Beauveria bassiana, Bals and Vuils, Tonalá-Chinandega, Nicaragua

Abstract

The banana weevil is one of the most important pests causing losses in the yield of musaceae and management has been mainly with synthetic insecticides, making it necessary to search for biological alternatives where entomopathogenic fungi play a very important role. With the objective of evaluating the effectiveness of the Beauveria bassiana Bal y Vuil fungus applied in traps for the management of the banana weevil (Cosmopolites sordidus, Germar), a trial was carried out in the municipality Morazan port, Tonalá – Chinandega; in the period January to June of the year 2019. The evaluated treatments were: Beauveria bassiana in liquid, wettable powder, granulated in rice substrate and Chemical Jade®. Applications and samplings were made every 15 days after placing the first traps and the dose of Beauveria bassiana was 300 g ha^-1 concentration of 1x10¹² conidias ha^-1. The variables evaluated were population of Cosmopolites sordidus, number of weevils affected with Beauveria bassiana and yield (kg ha^-1). According to the results obtained, the Beauveria bassiana treatment in liquid presented the best results maintaining the lowest population levels of Cosmopolites sordidus and the least effective was Beauveria bassiana in wettable powder. The largest population of Cosmopolites sordidus was presented at the beginning of April in the Beauveria bassiana wettable powder treatment and the smallest at the beginning of June in the Beauveria bassiana wettable powder and liquid treatments. The best product for the management of Cosmopolites sordidus using traps was B. bassiana in granules.