Current Biotica 6(3): 334-341, 2012 ISSN 0973-4031

Beauveria bassiana- a novel biocontrol agent against the leaf webworms of Oil palm
Pinnamaneni Rajasekhar1*and Potineni Kalidas2
1
Department of Biotechnology, Sreenidhi Institute of Science and Technology, Yamnampet, Ghatkesar,
R.R.District- 501301, Andhra Pradesh, India.
2
Directorate of Oil Palm Research (ICAR), Pedavegi -534 450, Andhra Pradesh, India
*E-mail: pinnamaneniraj@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT

Oil palm, Elaeis guineensis (Jacq.) is an exotic high yielding perennial crop that has been
introduced to India as an irrigated crop. It is a monoecious, bisexual and entomophilous crop and
needs the assistance of a coleopteran weevil, Elaeidobius kamerunicus Faust. for effective
pollination. The palm is attacked by number of leaf web worms that results in heavy losses. The
present study reports the results of comparative assessment of biocontrol agents, such as
Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae with chemical pesticides, such as Carbofuran,
Phorate, Monocrotophos and Phosphamidon against leaf web worms on the Oil palm taking into
account the safety towards the pollinator, E. kamerunicus. The leaf web worm control by
selected biocontrol agents showed more than 90.0% mortality after 21 days of treatment. The
treatment with Beauveria bassiana recorded 98.3% reduction in the number of leaf web worms
after 21st day, which was in contrast to the most efficient chemical pesticide, i.e. Phorate.
However, the comparative assessment revealed that biocontrol efficiency of Beauveria bassiana
in controlling leaf web worm was equivalent to that of with other chemical insecticides.
Beauveria bassiana was found to have no adverse effect on the E. kamerunicus, which is critical
for increasing the yield and viability of the Oil palm.

KEY WORDS: Beauveria bassiana, insecticides, leaf webworms, Oil palm, pollinating weevil

INTRODUCTION noticed to affect this crop. Most prominent

Oil palm, Elaeis guineensis (Jacq.) is
an exotic high yielding perennial crop native
of Guinea Bissau in West Africa. It is a
monoecious, bisexual and entomophilous
crop which needs the assistance for
pollination. Elaeidobius kamerunicus Faust.
an exotic pollinating weevil is known as a
very prominent pollinating agent in its
native area (Guinea Bissau). The crop as
well as pollinating weevil has been
introduced to India to plug the gap between
demand and supply of vegetable oil. In
general, the pest incidence on Oil palm is
very low. Some pests (probably migrated
from other palmaceae plants) have been
of them are rhinoceros beetle, psychids, leaf
web worm and slug caterpillar. Out of these
psychid, leaf web worm and slug caterpillar
are the foliage feeders causing yield losses
about 20%. Kalidas and Rethinam (1998)
reported the incidence of leaf web worms on
Oil palm for the first time causing heavy
defoliation. Kalidas (2003) reported the
instances of yield loss of about 21% in the
first year, 24% in the second year and 41%
in the subsequent year due to the leaf web
worm menace. A wide variety of leaf-eating
Lepidoptera species are controlled, often
very effectively, by various viral and fungal
diseases (Mariau and Desmier, 1990). Wood
et al., (1972) observed the artificial

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defoliation of 50% resulted into a yield
reduction of 43% due to leaf eating
caterpillars. It has been reported that the
Lepidopteron pests can be very effectively
controlled by an ecofriendly bioagent,
Beauveria bassiana, an entomopathogen
that causes white muscardine disease. The
host range of Beauveria species is extensive
and includes almost all the orders of insects
(Narasimhan, 1970). The fungus has still
remained fully unexplored to this day as an
agent for biological control of insects,
besides its ability to kill the insects
immediately. One of the major advantages
of Beauveria species over conventional
pesticides is their long-term effect on the
target host population. The parasitic
mechanism of entomopathogenic fungi is
through invasion of the hosts usually by direct
penetration on to the host cuticle (Hackmann,
1984). Pathogenic fungi need to penetrate
through the cuticle into the insect body to
obtain nutrients for their growth and
reproduction. Entry into the host involves
both enzymic degradation and mechanical
pressure as evidenced by the physical
separation of lamellae by penetrated hyphae.
A range of extracellular enzymes that can
degrade the major components of insect
cuticle, including chitinase, lipase, esterase
and at least four different classes of
proteases, have been suggested to function
during the fungi pathogenesis. The production
of cuticle-degrading enzymes by M.
anisopliae, during infection and structure
formation on Calliphor vomitoria and
Manduca sexta has been investigated by
biochemical and histochemical analysis in
both in vivo and in vitro. In general, B.
bassiana conidia germinate on the host
surface and differentiate an infection
structure termed appressorium (St Leger et
al., 1991).
It has been reported that the B.
bassiana and M. anisopliae produced
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significant amounts of toxic compounds
within their hosts. Hamil and Sullivan, 1969;
Elsworth and Grove, 1977 isolated the toxins
Beauvericin, Beauverolides, Bassianolide
and Isarolides from B. bassiana infected
hosts. Wright and Chandler (1991; 1992)
tested the efficacy of B. bassiana against
cotton boll weevil in the laboratory
experiment and recorded mortality 78 and
92 per cent in feeding and direct contact
methods respectively. The efficacy of B.
bassiana against cotton leaf roller was
evaluated both in vitro and in vivo and
observed the mortality of the pest with in 4
days of application. It also decreased the
population of wild houseflies in the near by
cattle sheds when they were applied in the
field (Ramesh et al., 1999).
In view of the importance of the
Beauveria bassiana which has been used
successfully as a biocontrol agent of cotton
boll weevil, cotton leaf folder etc. the
present work has been designed to study its
efficacy on Oil palm leaf webworm, Acria
spp. in comparison with insecticides.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Study area and pesticide application
Oil palms in the farmer’s field (12
hectares) in Jagannadhapuram village of
Pedavegi Mandal, West Godavari District,
Andhra Pradesh which were severely
infested with Leaf webworms were selected
for this study during November to March,
2008-2009. The Leaf webworm is a serious
pest belonging to Lepidoptera but not known
taxonomically. The palms were treated with
different bioagents viz., Beauveria bassiana
and Metarhizium anisopliae at a
concentration of 1g/l with a spore count of
104, and chemical pesticides, such as
Carbofuran (1g/l), Phorate(1g/l),
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Monocrotophos (1ml/l) and Phosphamidon
(1ml/l). The treatments with these pesticides
were administered as per field applicative
concentrations of the respective pesticide in
three replicates each. Beauveria bassiana,
Metarhizium anisopliae, Monocrotophos
and Phosphamidon were applied as aerial
spray, whereas Carbofuran and Phorate
granules were applied to the soil. The total
treatment duration was of 38 days, and the
data was collected prior to treatment and
after 2nd, 4th, 7th, 14th, 21th and 38th day of
application. Three replications were
maintained for each treatment.
Statistical analyses
The mean, Standard deviation,
Standard error, etc. was determined.
Besides, experimental plots, three replicates
were also kept as control in a separate plot.
The comparative assessment of the number
of leaf webworms before treatment and
number of pests after the treatment with
biocontrol agents and chemical pesticides
were evaluated by one way analysis of
variance (ANOVA). An alpha level of 0.05
was selected to claim any difference as a
significant difference.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The results on the treatment efficiency
observed by the application of different
insecticides and biocontrol agents are
presented in Table 1. The results show a
decreasing trend in the number of live
caterpillars in all the treatments (biological
as well as chemical) at different time
intervals. Up to day four, there was no
significant difference in the number of live
caterpillars under different treatments.
However, treatment with Metarhizium
anisopliae and Carbofuran showed a
relatively higher number of live caterpillars
after four days. Furthermore, the number of
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leaf webworms recorded during different
time intervals receiving treatment by
different biocontrol agents showed a
significantly (ANOVA, P<0.05) different
mean values (< 0.014, < 0.062, < 0.331, <
0.031, < 0.016, < 0.141, < 0.113) for day 7
and 14 respectively. However, beyond 14th
day of treatment there was no significant
(ANOVA, P> 0.05) difference amongst the
mean values, indicating a comparable
biocontrol ability of all the agents including
Beauveria bassiana. Thus, the comparative
assessment shows at par action of the
Beauveria bassiana with insecticides for
controlling the leaf webworms.
Temporal variation in the insecticidal
effect
On temporal scale, all the biocontrol
agents showed a similar action and were
found to be effective in controlling the
number of leaf webworms (Fig. 1). The
number of leaf web worms reduced
drastically by the treatment with Beauveria
bassiana after 21st day. The percentage
reduction in the number showed that phorate
was the most effective insecticide followed
with Monocrotophos and Phosphamidon
with 98.6% reduction. Treatment with
Beauveria bassiana exhibited 98.3%
reduction in the number of leaf web worms
after 21st day, while rest of the treatments
showed a lower percentage of reduction in
the worm numbers. However, both the
biocontrol agents showed more than 90.0%
reduction in the number of leaf web worms.
The comparison reveals that the
effectiveness of Beauveria bassiana in
controlling the number of leaf web worms
did not differ than those with phorate which
showed highest percent reduction. Although
the chemical compounds, such as phorate
and others showed high mortality rates, the
high standard deviation values (Table 2)
indicate that the results are less consistent
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and reliable. However, in case of the results
of treatment by Beauveria bassiana, the data
shows a consistency as well as reliable
estimate.
CONCLUSION
The leaf web worm control by
selected biocontrol agents showed more than
90.0% mortality after 21 days of treatment.
The treatment with Beauveria bassiana
showed 98.3% reduction in the number of
leaf web worms after 21st day, which was
comparable to the most efficient chemical
compound, i.e. Phorate. As Oil palm is an
entomophilous crop, usage of chemical
pesticides in controlling the pests may cause
hazardous affects on the pollinating weevil
and thereby pollination. To overcome this
problem, it can be recommended to use
biocontrol agent, B. bassiana, which is
reported to be very effective against
lepidopteron pests that forms puffy white
mat of mycelia on the cuticle causing white
muscardine disease. The bioagent was found
to be safe to the pollinating weevil,
Elaeidobius kamerunicust contributing to
the yield and viability of the Oil palm.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors are thankful to the
Director, Directorate of Oil Palm Research
(ICAR), Pedavegi for providing the facilities
for carrying the work. The assistance
rendered by Mr. Asirwadam, Contractual
worker in taking observations is highly
appreciated.

Table 1: Variation in the number of leaf web worms observed during the treatment by different
agents at selected time period

Days after
Treatments Mean  SD SE Min. Max. P
Treatment
Pretreatment Control 53.0 3 2 51 56 < 0.014
Beauveria bassiana 40.0 2 1 38 42
Metarhizium anisopliae 41.0 2 1 39 43
Carbofuran 46.0 4 3 43 51
Sanvex 51.0 5 3 47 56
Phorate 42.0 7 4 34 48
Monocrotophos 46.0 1 1 45 47
Phosphamidon 47.0 6 3 41 52
Day-2 Control 14.0 2 1 12 16 < 0.062
Beauveria bassiana 9.0 4 3 6 14
Metarhizium anisopliae 7.3 6 3 3 14
Carbofuran 10.0 4 2 6 13
Sanvex 9.0 3 2 7 13
Phorate 4.0 3 2 2 7
Monocrotophos 8.7 3 1 6 11
Phosphamidon 4.0 3 2 1 6
Day-4 Control 3.3 3 2 1 7 < 0.331
Beauveria bassiana 3.3 2 1 2 5
Metarhizium anisopliae 5.3 4 2 1 9
Carbofuran 8.7 6 3 5 15
Sanvex 4.3 3 1 2 7
Phorate 2.0 1 1 1 3
Monocrotophos 2.0 1 1 1 3
Phosphamidon 3.7 5 3 1 9

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Day-7 Control 3.3 2 1 2 5 < 0.031

Beauveria bassiana 4.3 1 0 4 5
Metarhizium anisopliae 6.7 3 1 4 9
Carbofuran 4.0 4 2 0 7
Sanvex 4.7 2 1 3 6
Phorate 0.3 1 0 0 1
Monocrotophos 2.3 1 1 1 3
Phosphamidon 2.3 2 1 1 4
Day-14 Control 0.3 1 0 0 1 < 0.016
Beauveria bassiana 4.0 3 2 1 6
Metarhizium anisopliae 5.0 2 1 4 7
Carbofuran 2.3 2 1 1 4
Sanvex 1.7 1 1 1 3
Phorate 3.0 2 1 1 4
Monocrotophos 1.0 1 1 0 2
Phosphamidon 0.7 1 0 0 1
Day-21 Control 2.0 2 1 1 4 < 0.141
Beauveria bassiana 0.7 1 0 0 1
Metarhizium anisopliae 2.0 1 1 1 3
Carbofuran 1.7 1 0 1 2
Sanvex 0.7 1 0 0 1
Phorate 0.3 1 0 0 1
Monocrotophos 0.7 1 0 0 1
Phosphamidon 0.7 1 0 0 1
Day-38 Control 4.0 4 3 1 9 < 0.113
Beauveria bassiana 1.0 1 1 0 2
Metarhizium anisopliae 3.7 3 2 1 7
Carbofuran 0.7 1 0 0 1
Sanvex 5.3 2 1 4 7
Phorate 2.0 0 0 2 2
Monocrotophos 1.0 2 1 0 3
Phosphamidon 1.3 1 0 1 2

Bold values of P indicate significant difference between the means

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Table 2: Temporal variation in the number of leaf web worms recorded during the treatment to
different agents

Days after
Treatments Mean  SD SE Min. Max. P
Treatment
Control Pretreatment 53.0  2.6 1.5 51 56 < 0.01
Day-2 14.0  2.0 1.2 12 16
Day-4 3.3  3.2 1.9 1 7
Day-7 3.3  1.5 0.9 2 5
Day-14 0.3  0.6 0.3 0 1
Day-21 2.0  1.7 1.0 1 4
Day-38 4.0  4.4 2.5 1 9
Beauveria Pretreatment 40.0  2.0 1.2 38 42 < 0.01
bassiana
Day-2 9.0  4.4 2.5 6 14
Day-4 3.3  1.5 0.9 2 5
Day-7 4.3  0.6 0.3 4 5
Day-14 4.0  2.6 1.5 1 6
Day-21 0.7  0.6 0.3 0 1
Day-38 1.0  1.0 0.6 0 2
Metarhizium Pretreatment 41.0  2.0 1.2 39 43 < 0.01
anisopliae
Day-2 7.3  5.9 3.4 3 14
Day-4 5.3  4.0 2.3 1 9
Day-7 6.7  2.5 1.5 4 9
Day-14 5.0  1.7 1.0 4 7
Day-21 2.0  1.0 0.6 1 3
Day-38 3.7  3.1 1.8 1 7
Carbofuran Pretreatment 46.0  4.4 2.5 43 51 < 0.01
Day-2 10.0  3.6 2.1 6 13
Day-4 8.7  5.5 3.2 5 15
Day-7 4.0  3.6 2.1 0 7
Day-14 2.3  1.5 0.9 1 4
Day-21 1.7  0.6 0.3 1 2
Day-38 0.7  0.6 0.3 0 1
Sanvex Pretreatment 51.0  4.58 2.65 47 56 < 0.01
Day-2 9.0  3.46 2.00 7 13

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Day-4 4.3  2.52 1.45 2 7

Day-7 4.7  1.53 0.88 3 6
Day-14 1.7  1.15 0.67 1 3
Day-21 0.7  0.58 0.33 0 1
Day-38 5.3  1.53 0.88 4 7
Phorate Pretreatment 42.0  7.21 4.16 34 48 < 0.01
Day-2 4.0  2.65 1.53 2 7
Day-4 2.0  1.00 0.58 1 3
Day-7 0.3  0.58 0.33 0 1
Day-14 3.0  1.73 1.00 1 4
Day-21 0.3  0.58 0.33 0 1
Day-38 2.0  0.00 0.00 2 2
Monocrotophos Pretreatment 46.0  1.00 0.58 45 47 < 0.01
Day-2 8.7  2.52 1.45 6 11
Day-4 2.0  1.00 0.58 1 3
Day-7 2.3  1.15 0.67 1 3
Day-14 1.0  1.00 0.58 0 2
Day-21 0.7  0.58 0.33 0 1
Day-38 1.0  1.73 1.00 0 3
Phosphamidon Pretreatment 47.0  5.57 3.21 41 52 < 0.01
Day-2 4.0  2.65 1.53 1 6
Day-4 3.7  4.62 2.67 1 9
Day-7 2.3  1.53 0.88 1 4
Day-14 0.7  0.58 0.33 0 1
Day-21 0.7  0.58 0.33 0 1
Day-38 1.3  0.58 0.33 1 2

Bold values of P indicate significant difference between the means

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