Biopesticide success with locust infestation

Green Muscle™ is a biopesticide that's proving successful against locusts in Africa. It consists of the spores of the Metarhizium anisopliae fungus, and is sprayed as a mineral oil suspension. Developed out of the LUBILOSA project, it is now produced by Biological Control Products (BCP) in South Africa and SenBio in Senegal. It has not as yet been approved for use in the United States.

BOOKS FOR MORE INFORMATION:

• Biological control: a global perspective - case studies from around the world


• Control of pests and weeds by natural enemies: an introduction to biological control


• Convention on biological diversity and product commercialisation in development assistance projects: a case study of LUBILOSA


• Exploitation of microorganisms


• "Fungal parasites of insects and nematodes" in Fungal biology


• Impact of science on African agriculture and food security


• Use of microbes for control and eradication of invasive arthropods

DOCUMENTS:

• Consultancy on entomopathology: strain selection on the fungal pathogen, Metarhizium anisopliae, for biocontrol of groundnut chafers: Myanmar, 1 August-5 September 1991


• Current status of Metarhizium anisopliae var. majus to control Oryctes rhinoceros in the Philippines, November 1991

JOURNALS:

• BioControl (was, Entomophaga)


• BioControl Science and Technology


• Biological Control


• Environmental Entomology


• Focus on Biopesticides PLUS


• Journal of Biopesticides

NEWS:

• Biopesticide developed by CABI averts locust disaster in Eastern Africa
  

Crop-eating caterpillars cause state of emergency

Achaea catocaloides rena has been identified as the insect destroying coffee, cocoa, banana and plantain farms, and contaminating water sources, across Liberia and Guinea in Africa.

According to CABI, "More than 20,000 people have so far had to evacuate their homes."

A. catocaloides rena is a member of the Noctuidae or "Owlet" moth family in the order Lepidoptera.

See also:

• Crop-eating caterpillars swarm over Liberia (CABI)


• Lepidoptera types of the Royal Museum for Central Africa
  
• Crop Protection Compendium


• Entomology Research Guide (UW-Madison Libraries)

[Image of A. janata caterpillar (not A. catocaloides) by Djovani. Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic. http://www.flickr.com/photos/14126791@N03/1678406276]

[Copyrighted image of A. catocaloides rena moth used by permission of the Royal Museum for Central Africa, Belgium. http://www.metafro.be/lepidoptera/butterflies/RMCA-2171/taxon]