Adult Biocontrol Using Strains and Gum Formulations.

Speare is the only entomopathogenic fungus that has been applied to control the hemipteran Kuwayama. However, the use of available commercial products under field conditions is limited due to conidia's shelf life and short environmental persistence. We have previously reported the citrus psyllid adults' biocontrol potential using strains. The aim of the present study was to evaluate different formulations based on (OP-Hir-3, OP-Hir-10, and OP-Hir-12 strains) conidia and gums as additives to improve adults' biocontrol, under laboratory, greenhouse, and field conditions, using gums as conidia stabilizers to improve their viability under environmental drought conditions and as insecticide. Laboratory bioassay results showed that the highest ( < 0.05) mortality was achieved using FOP-Hir-10GH (63.5%), followed by the gum control (42.2%). Under greenhouse conditions, adults' mortality reached up to 84.6% with FOP-Hir-12 and 49.0% with gum. In addition, we applied formulations under field conditions in a commercial citrus grove located in Tecomán, Colima, México, at 21.5 °C and 73.3% relative humidity (RH) in March and 25.7 °C and 72.5% RH in October 2022 and observed 67.3% and 94.0% mortality of adults, respectively. gum alone showed significant insecticidal activity against adults. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that gum functioned as additive to conidia formulations, improving adults' mortality and showing potential for this pest biocontrol in citrus orchards.