Biological Control Using Microorganisms Metarhizium anisopliae, Beauveria bassiana and Lecanicillium lecanii Against Tuta absoluta (Meyrick)

Tuta absoluta (Meyerick) is a serious pest of tomato crop with larvae causing even 100% loss, if not effectively controlled. Native from South America, currently, it can be found throughout Europe, Africa and parts of Asia. In Romania, it was reported for first time in 2009 (Leaotă, 2009). In this study, 12 concentrations of Metarhizium anisopliae and Lecanicillium lecanii were prepared and tested on T. absoluta larvae to study the impact of entomopathogenic fungi on larvae mortality, under laboratory conditions. The results showed that only four experiments had a mortality rate of over 50% on T. absoluta larvae. The higher concentration had the highest mortality rate. Research shows that microorganisms are effective, but at very high concentrations, leading to a higher cost of production. In these conditions, we could recommend either to increase the colony forming units in the commercial products, or to enrich the crop area with beneficial microfauna before establishing the crop. The present study might be useful in developing future integrated management strategies for tomato leaf miner.