The Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Liviidae) is an insect pest species responsible for damages of citrus fruit quality and tree health. This insect is a vector of bacteria ‘Candidatus Liberibacter’ spp. a putative causal agent of citrus greening disease known as Huanglongbing (HLB), considered one of the most destructive diseases of citrus orchards worldwide. Disease management is mainly based on vector control using pesticides which can affect natural enemies that play an important role in pest control. The entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) Beauveria bassiana (2067 and 2121) and Metarhizium anisopliae (2411) were achieved by applying a suspension of 1 × 107 spores against D. citri nymphs and artificially infected the citrus seedlings under controlled and semi-field conditions. Also, the activity of these EPFs on the coccinellid and lacewing predators was evaluated. The effects of the main chemicals used in citrus plantations on the selected fungi for possible combined use was also investigated. The obtained results showed that under controlled conditions, the percentage of insect mortality produced by EPF varied between 82.8 and 85.9%. Under semi-field conditions, the infection and mortality of D. citri caused by the M. anisopliae 2411 strain was significantly higher than that of B. bassiana 2067, 78.9 and 51%, respectively. Non-significant effect of EPF on the natural enemies of D. citri was observed, suggesting that EPF and predators had compatible effects. This study clearly demonstrated that EPF were able to kill D. citri and can be explored as a promissory biocontrol candidate. Simultaneous use in an integrated pest management program could be possible by applying EPF combined with pesticides.

中文翻译：

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昆虫病原真菌对亚洲柑橘木虱（Diophina citri Kuwayama（Hemiptera：Liviidae））的生物控制及其对天敌的副作用

亚洲柑桔木虱，Diophina citri Kuwayama（半翅目：Liviidae）是一种害虫，负责破坏柑桔的品质和树木健康。这种昆虫是细菌“ Candidatus Liberibacter” spp的载体。一种被认为是柑橘绿化病的致病因子，称为黄龙病（HLB），被认为是全世界柑桔园最具破坏性的疾病之一。疾病管理主要基于使用农药的媒介控制，这种媒介会影响在害虫控制中发挥重要作用的天敌。虫害性白僵菌（EPF）球孢白僵菌（EPF）（2067和2121）和金属变种（Metrahizium anisopliae）（2411）是通过将1×107孢子悬浮于柠檬果蝇（D. citri）若虫并在受控和半田间条件下人工感染柑橘幼苗而获得的。也，评估了这些EPF对球虫和草食性天敌的活性。还研究了柑桔种植园中使用的主要化学物质对所选真菌可能并用的影响。获得的结果表明，在受控条件下，EPF产生的昆虫死亡率百分比在82.8％和85.9％之间变化。在半田间条件下，由异种分枝杆菌2411菌株引起的柑橘D. citri的感染和死亡率分别显着高于B. bassiana 2067、78.9和51％。观察到EPF对柑橘D. citri的天敌无显着影响，表明EPF和捕食者具有相容的作用。这项研究清楚地表明，EPF能够杀死柑橘D. citri，并且可以作为一种积极的生物防治候选物来探索。