A major forest insect pest, the pine weevil Hylobius abietis, is more susceptible to Diptera- than Coleoptera-targeted Bacillus thuringiensis strains.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The pine weevil (Hylobius abietis) is a major forest regeneration pest causing high levels of seedling mortality and economic losses. Current management relies on silviculture, stem coatings and insecticides. Here we evaluated for the first time the effects of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) strains on H. abietis adults: two producing the Coleoptera-targeted toxins Cry3Aa (Bt tenebrionis NB-176) and Cry8Da (Bt galleriae SDS-502), and one producing the Diptera-targeted Cry10A (Bt israelensis AM65-52). Choice and nonchoice assays using individual and mixtures of Bt formulations, containing these strains respectively, were conducted.

Results

We found that Bt had toxic and lethal effects on H. abietis, but effects varied with strain and formulation concentration. The Dipt

SUBMITTER: Tudoran A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7894551 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature