Bioassay of Entomopathogenic Fungi, Beauveria bassiana (Balsam) Vuillemin solates against Spodoptera Litura (Fab)

Beauveria bassiana is a known natural enemy of a number of insect pests of crop plants. Molecular markers provide a means for constructing the molecular phylogeny, diversity and link to virulent phenotypes in order to screen different isolates of any given entomopathogens. In this experiment, 13 isolates of B. bassiana isolated from different insect hosts and from different geographical origins were collected. Bioassays were conducted by using second instar larvae of Spodoptera litura in order to categorize the isolates based on virulence. The mortality of 1^st instar larvae was high in Vikarabad Beauveria bassiana strain followed by native local 1 strain. Similar mortality of 2^nd instar larvae was observed in Vikarabad strain followed by native local 1, whereas for third instar larvae the highest mortality is observed in NB followed by Vikarabad strain.