Ecology of Bacillus thuringiensis in storage moths

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Abstract

A disease-free stock of Plodia interpunctella was produced by a continuous rearing technique. In dense populations of this stock, 104 or more spores of H serotype V Bacillus thuringiensis applied at one point on the surface of 200 g of food were required to cause epizootics, compared with 107 or more when spread evenly over the surface. In infected populations, spores contaminated the surfaces of all stages of the insect. In diseased larval cadavers there were 5.6–42.2 × 108 spores/g of dry insect (P. interpunctella, Ephestia cautella, Anagasta kuehniella, Ephestia elutella, and Galleria mellonella). Larvae did not cannibalize live larvae while food was present though they sometimes ate cadavers. This is the most potent means of natural spread of the disease. Occurring mainly in protected situations such as food stores, natural infections are usually light, but occasionally spectacular surface accumulations of dead larvae occur, possibly associated with stress, physiological condition of the larvae, serotype of the bacterium, or behavior pattern such as migration. Natural disease may curb infestations in debris, but it attacks too late to prevent excessive damage to stored food. A prophylactic, even admixture of 2 × 109 spores/200 g of food is required for effective insect control.

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