Beauveria bassiana is a method of controlling insects with bacteria. It is a broad-spectrum insect pathogenic fungus that can invade the bodies of over two hundred kinds of insects and mites.
Beauveria bassiana is one of the fungi with the largest area used for pest control worldwide. It can be used to deal with Coleoptera pests and the effect is also very good. After farmers have sprayed this Beauveria bassiana agent, the spores will come into contact with the surface of the insect, allowing them to germinate under suitable conditions. The Beauveria bassiana will grow extremely small bud tubes and secrete toxins to dissolve the insect’s skin. The bud tubes gradually enter the insect body and grow into nutrient mycelium, forming a large number of mycelium bodies, which can also directly absorb the nutrients in the insect’s body fluids. With the massive reproduction of the pathogen, the metabolism in the pests will be disrupted. It is not until 5 to 7 days after the application of the pesticide that the pests will be killed. The insect body gradually becomes stiff and is covered with white, downy mycelium. After two days, the mycelium extending outside the body grows many conidia. These spores can be spread by wind and continue to infect the pest, forming an epidemic among the pests, thereby achieving a good effect in pest control.
Since the white stiffening fungus has the above-mentioned characteristics, farmers can also collect the corpses of pests that died due to the infection of the white stiffening fungus, crush them and spray them into powder for use. The effect of pest control is also quite good. Because it uses bacteria to control pests, it will not pollute the environment. Even if Beauveria bassiana pesticides are used for a long time, pests will not develop resistance. This is because the infection of Beauveria bassiana is selective. It can selectively kill agricultural pests such as aphids, thrips, and cabbage worms, but will not cause harm to beneficial insects such as ladybugs, lacewings, and gadflies that eat aphids.
Beauveria bassiana pesticide is non-toxic, safe and long-lasting. It can achieve the purpose of one-time use and long-term prevention. It can kill agricultural pests without causing harm to beneficial pests in farmland. However, due to its slow effect, it has not yet been accepted by the majority of vegetable farmers. But with the improvement of people’s requirements for vegetable quality and the increasing demand for green and organic food, Beauveria bassiana will have a promising future, just like the biopesticides such as matrine that are widely used by vegetable farmers nowadays.
Post time: May-13-2025