D3291: The impact of Beauveria bassiana on squash bugs mortality

Beauveria bassiana is an entomopathogenic fungus naturally found in soils and causes a disease known as the white muscardine disease in insects. The spores of this fungus invade the cuticle (skin) of insects first, then move to the inner body of their host insect. The fungus produces toxins, drains the insect of nutrients, and eventually kills the insect. This research aims to evaluate the efficacy of field-collected entomopathogenic fungi against Anasa tristis. The field-collected fungi are isolated from cadavers of insects and identified based on their colony color, as, beauvarua White and Pink, until further identification takes place using molecular techniques. 10 Anasa tristis nymphs (2nd-3rd instar) were used for each study group. Those in the testing group were dipped into a fungal suspension and then placed into a petri dish with a squash leaf and cotton ball to sustain the moisture of the leaves. For comparison, ten insects in the control group were dipped into sterilized water, and data on mortality was collected every 24 hours. The trial showed that by day 4, the mortality rate for the pink assay was 100% and 50% for the white assay. We will extract DNA from the Anasa tristis cadavers to diagnose whether the inoculated fungi cause mortality. Considering the potential effects of this trial, more replications will be done to gain conclusive results. This fungus shows its potential as a biological control agent in controlling the insect pest population.