Screening of Fungal Strains and Formulations of Metarhizium anisopliae to Control Phyllotreta striolata in Chinese Flowering Cabbage

SIMPLE SUMMARY: The cabbage flea beetle (CFB; Phyllotreta striolata) is a significant pest of cruciferous vegetables in the world. CFB causes severe destruction of Chinese flowering cabbage (CFC; Brassica campestris L. ssp. chinensis var. utilis), a key leafy vegetable in South China. In practice, the current control approach of CFB is to kill adults by spraying chemical insecticides, but the control efficacy is not sufficient because the adults have a strong tolerance to insecticides; on the other hand, the larvae living in soil are not influenced by pesticides. It is urgent to develop sustainable technology to control CFB. Here, we provide a new technology to control larvae and adults through seed pelletization and stem–leaf spraying using Metarhizium anisopliae. This study provides new insights into the application of mycoinsecticides and the IPM of flea beetle. ABSTRACT: (1) Background: The cabbage flea beetle (CFB; Phyllotreta striolata) seriously damages the production of Chinese flowering cabbage (CFC; Brassica campestris L. ssp. chinensis var. utilis), which is a key leafy vegetable in South China. A large number of chemical insecticides have been sprayed to control this pest; as a result, residues and resistances are becoming an issue. It is necessary to develop biocontrol technologies to address this issue. (2) Methods: Fungal strains were selected based on bioactivity against CFB, and CFC seed pelletization with fungal conidia was subject to evaluation of control efficacy against CFB. The effective mixture of fungus and chemical insecticide was determined based on safety and joint toxicology tests. (3) Results: The screening of 103 strains from 14 genera identified the Metarhizium anisopliae strain MaGX19S02 (Ma) as the one with the highest virulence. The LC(50)s of Ma to CFB adult and second instar larvae on day 9 post-treatment were 3.04 × 10(6) and 27.2 × 10(6) spores/mL, respectively. In the pot test, the pelletization of CFC seeds with Ma conidia (50/25/12.5 mg in 1 g seed with 4 g fillers) demonstrated significant CFB mortalities (45–82%) 20 days after the larvae were introduced. In the field test, the seed pelletization achieved 57–81% control efficacy 14 days after sowing. Furthermore, the combination of Ma with chlorfenapyr (Chl) demonstrated a synergistic effect against CFB; based on this result, we prepared the mixture formulation of 20% Ma-Chl wettable powder (WP). The assessment of the effects of 20% Ma-Chl WP (500× diluent) against CFB revealed 93.33% mortality in the pot test and 61.3% control efficacy in the field test on day 7 post-treatment. (4) Conclusions: The findings demonstrate the potential of Ma to control CFB in the field. Seed pelletization with Ma conidia effectively controlled CFB larvae and protected CFC seedlings, wherein a mixture formulation of 20% Ma-Chl WP had substantial efficacy in controlling CFB adults. Our research provides new methods for CFB biocontrol.