Prospects for use of entomopathogenic fungi for the biocontrol of ixodid ticks (Ixodida: Ixodidae)

Abstract

Data from 47 sources of scientific literature on the prospects for the use of biopesticides based on Metarhizium anisopliae, Beauveria bassiana and others species of entomopathogenic fungi to reduce the number of ixodid ticks Ixodes ricinus, I. scapularis, Dermacentor variabilis, D. reticulatus and Rhipicephalus sanguineus are presented. A review was made of data on the effectiveness of mycoacaricides used abroad against ixodid ticks, leading to a reduction in the number of ticks by 87–96?% after 3 weeks and by 53–74?% after 5 weeks after treatment. The use of the M. anisopliae F52 strain can become another tool for an integrated approach to the control of ticks in the residential landscape. An integrated method for controlling the number of ixodid ticks is presented, including the use of the entomopathogenic fungus M. anisopliae, the treatment of areas with acaricides, and the feeding of systemic insecticidal baits based on fipronil to rodents, which eliminate the larvae and nymphs of the tick when fed on a host. The experience of limited trials of preparative forms of mycoinsecticides that did not show high efficiency against the taiga tick Ixodes persulcatus in our country is described. Keywords: ixodid ticks, entomopathogenic fungi, Metarhizium, Beauveria, biopesticides.