LABORATORY TESTING OF A MYCOPESTICIDE ON NONTARGET ORGANISMS - THE EFFECTS OF AN OIL FORMULATION OF METARHIZIUM FLAVOVIRIDE APPLIED TO APIS-MELLIFERA

A technique was developed to allow ultra-low voluume (ULV) application of an oil formulation of the deuteromycete, Metarhizium flavoviride Gams and Rozsypal, to Apis mellifera (Linnaeus). In the first experiment application of a dose equivalent to twice the expected field application rate killed 30% of the bees and a twenty-fold dose killed 87%. In a second experiment, a realistic field dose formulated in oil killed 11% of the bees and a similar dose formulated in water killed 8%. The dose applied effectively killed the target host, the desert locust Schistocerca gregaria (Forskal). Application of a chemical pesticide comprising an organophosphate and two pyrethroids at a dose that was just sub-lethal to locusts, killed all treated bees. Very few untreated bees died. The results demonstrated the feasibility of safety resting a mycopesticide with bees as a non-target organism. In addition, it was demonstrated that the mycopesticide currently under development for the control of locusts and grasshoppers was quantifiably less hazardous to bees than the chemical pesticide.