Indirect infection of Curculio elephas Gyll. larvae with the fungus Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuill.

Abstract: The entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuill. (Deuteromycotyna, Hyphomycetes) was tested in laboratory experiments against larvae of Curculio elephas recovered from acorns of Quercus suber L. harvested in a cork-oak stand located in North-Sardinia.The larvae were indirectly infected by contact with sand treated with two suspensions with different concentrations of conidia. The data regarding the mortality of contaminated larvae, detected after two weeks of incubation, confirm the results obtained, in previous tests, by direct immersion of larvae in the conidial suspensions. These results showed the efficaciousness of the fungal antagonist towards the larvae of Sardinian population of C. elephas and provide additional information to carry out field application tests.