IN VITRO EFFICACY OF ANTI-TICK ACTIVITY OF ENTOMOPATHOGENIC FUNGI AGAINST RHIPICEPHALUS MICROPLUS

Abstract

In India, control of ticks is solely relied on the usage of chemical acaricides and their continuous use has been resulted in occurrence of resistance against them. Owing to wide spread resistance against acaricides, it becomes necessary to explore alternative methods of tick control. Amongst the alternative methods, the entomopathogenic fungi are well-documented for their capacity to infect various tick species and hence can be used as biological control agents to curb the tick menace. For this purpose, fully engorged freshly dropped female R. microplus were procured from cow sheds of Mhow (M.P.). For in vitro trials, working concentrations of powder of Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae were prepared in milk and water. The adult immersion test was carried out for the assessment of anti-tick activity of entomopathogenic fungi. The mortality (19.44%) of adult female ticks with significant decrement in the reproductive index (0.35) along with inhibition of oviposition (44.77%) was recorded in ticks treated with B. bassiana. Adult female ticks treated with M. anisopliae showed lowest reproductive index of 0.569 with highest inhibition of oviposition of 7.94. Lowest hatchability of 35.67 and 73.42% was noted in eggs laid by adult female ticks treated with B. bassiana and M. anisopliae, respectively. Significantly low (P<0.01) hatchability was noticed at every concentration of B. bassiana than that of M. anisopliae. Depending on the findings of the present investigation, it can be deduced that, the fungi like B. bassiana and M. anisopliae can be inducted as a part of integrated pest management owing to growing concern of resistance against chemical acaricides.