The effects of an entomopathogenic fungus, Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin (Hyphomycetes), on Prostephanus truncatus (Horn) (Col.: Bostrichidae), Sitophilus zeamais Motschulsky (Col.: Curculionidae), and grain losses in stored maize in the Benin Republic

A fungal entomopathogen, Beauveria bassiana, was used to treat maize ears p laced in traditional grain stores against Prostephanus truncatus in a held experiment conducted from September 1997 to March 1998 in the Benin Republi c, West Africa Treatments included oil-based spray with and without conidia , maize stored with and without the husk, and stores with and without artif icial infestation. Additional treated ears kept in insect-proof cages under held conditions were sampled weekly and exposed to insects to estimate the virulence and persistence of the pathogen during the storage season, P, tr uncatus densities were significantly lower in treatments that included coni dia, although densities were high in all artificially infested treatments a nd grain losses were severe. The effect of the pathogen was modeled with an exponential decay function and incorporated in a published P, truncatus si mulation model. The effects of hypothetical pathogens with different virule nce and persistence characteristics were evaluated in terms of insect densi ty and percentage grain loss, (C) 2001 Academic Press.