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. 2025 Apr 2;13(4):811.
doi: 10.3390/microorganisms13040811.

Effect of Rare, Locally Isolated Entomopathogenic Fungi on the Survival of Bactrocera oleae Pupae in Laboratory Soil Conditions

Spiridon Mantzoukas  1 , Alexandros Margaritis  2 , Chrysanthi Zarmakoupi  2 , Vasileios Papantzikos  2 , Thomais Sourouni  2 , Vasiliki Georgopoulou  2 , Panagiotis A Eliopoulos  3 , Ioannis Lagogiannis  4 , George Patakioutas  2
Affiliations

Effect of Rare, Locally Isolated Entomopathogenic Fungi on the Survival of Bactrocera oleae Pupae in Laboratory Soil Conditions

Spiridon Mantzoukas et al. Microorganisms. .

Abstract

Greece's olive oil production is significantly affected by the olive fruit fly Bactrocera oleae (Diptera: Tephritidae), and its presence is perceived when it is too late to act for damage recovery. In this work, some unexplored entomopathogenic fungi (EPFs) were studied for their efficacy on olive fruit fly pupae in soil samples. Olive grove soil samples were collected to evaluate the effect of EPFs in their natural environment. The parameters that were analyzed to evaluate the performance of EPFs on B. oleae included the adult survival time, pupa hatch time, and the presence of mycelium on B. oleae pupae and dead adults. The efficacy of some EPFs was highlighted by the mycelium present on dead B. oleae adults after treating pupae with fungal isolates on the soil substrate. The results showed that for the soil substrate, external fungal growth was observed in dead adults with A. contaminans, A. keveii, A. flavus P. lilacinum, and T. annesophieae (100%). Remarkably, the lowest male proportion for soil and non-soil substrates was for A. flavus (0.41-0.42) for the first time, for A. keveii (0.36), and for P. citreosulfuratum (0.41) on the soil-only substrate in contrast to the control treatment (0.5 for both substrates). Given the high infestation caused by the olive fruit flies in Greece, the results of the study emphasize to use of incorporating certain EPF-based biopesticides into integrated pest management (IPM) programs.

Keywords: Aspergillus; Bactrocera oleae; EPF; Fusarium; Lecanicillium; local strains; mortality; survival time.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Pupae and hatched adults of B. oleae treated with different fungal isolates under laboratory conditions on non-soil: (A) A. austwickii; (B) A. alliaceus; (C) F. brachygibbosum; (D) F. longifundum.
Figure 2
Figure 2
B. oleae pupa (days ± sd) hatching time after being treated with fungal isolates in two substrates: (1) soil and (2) non-soil. Different letters between treatments indicate statistically significant differences according to the Bonferroni test.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Mycelium (% ± sd) presence on B. oleae-treated pupae with fungal isolates in two substrates: (1) soil and (2) non-soil. Different letters between treatments indicate statistically significant differences according to the Bonferroni test.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Pupae and hatched adults of B. oleae treated with different fungal isolates under laboratory conditions on soil: (A) P. chrysogenum; (B) A. contaminans; (C) L. dimorphum; (D) A. flavus.
Figure 5
Figure 5
B. oleae adult (days ± sd) survival time after treatment with fungal isolates in two substrates: (1) soil and (2) non-soil. Different letters between treatments indicate statistically significant differences according to the Bonferroni test.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Mycelium (% ± sd) presence on dead B. oleae adults after treated pupae with fungal isolates at two substrates: (1) soil and (2) non-soil. Different letters between treatments indicate statistically significant differences according to the Bonferroni test.
Figure 7
Figure 7
B. oleae male proportion after treatment of pupae with fungal isolates in two substrates: (1) soil and (2) non-soil.
Figure 8
Figure 8
B. oleae pupa (% ± sd) hatch after being treated with fungal isolates in two substrates: (1) soil and (2) non-soil. Different letters between treatments indicate statistically significant differences according to the Bonferroni test.
Figure 9
Figure 9
B. oleae adult survival (% ± sd) after hatching of the pupae treated with fungal isolates in two substrates: (1) soil and (2) non-soil. Different letters between treatments indicate statistically significant differences according to the Bonferroni test.
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