Colombian granuloviruses related to Phthorimaea operculella granulovirusisolated from the Guatemalan tuber moth, Tecia solanivora

Abstract: The guatemalan potato tuber moth, Tecia solanivora, progressively invaded Colombia,partially displacing the original potato tuber moth, Phthorimaea operculella. No appropriatebiological control methods exist for T. solanivora, while for P. operculella, a granulovirus,PhopGV, is used. An extensive sampling in Colombia allowed find T. solanivora infected larvae.Five different isolates have been characterised. All appear to be well adapted to T. solanivora,showing control efficacies (measured by their LC50) lower than 10 OB/mm2. In addition, isolatescollected in regions where both host species coexist are also efficient on P. operculella larvae.They are thus promising candidates for the development of biological insecticides.