S. ABDUL MUJEEB*, K. MANJULA, P.N. HARATHI, A. KANDAN AND P. LAVANYA KUMARI

Department of Entomology, S.V. Agricultural College, ANGRAU, Tirupati-517 502.

ABSTRACT  

This study characterizes the morphological traits of native isolates of Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae, two key entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) used in biocontrol of agricultural pests. In the present study conducted at S.V. Agricultural College,Tirupati, native isolates of B. bassiana and M. anisopliae were collected from major field crops like groundnut and maize from major groundnut growing districts of Rayalaseema region. These isolates were cultured on SMAY media and morphological characters were studied. Morphological characters viz., width of mycelium, width of conidiophore and length and width of conidia were measured. Observations revealed that B. bassiana isolates exhibited cottony white mycelium with globose conidia, while M. anisopliae isolates developed greenish colonies with elongated, cylindrical conidia. Conidia structure varied between the isolates, highlighting intraspecific diversity. In B. bassiana conidia were measured from 1.9 – 3.1 μm in length and 1.6 – 2.8 μm in width whereas in case of M. anisopliae, conidia were measured from 6.7 to 7.2 μm in length and 3.2 to 3.5 μm in width..

KEYWORDS: Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae, native isolates, conidiophore, conidia.