Potential of the entomopathogenic fungus, Metarhizium anisopliae s.l. in controlling live-wood eating termite, Microtermes obesi (Holmgren) (Blattodea: Termitidae) infesting tea crop

Egyptian Journal of Biological Pest Control

Table 3 Effect of Metarhizium anisopliae s.l. 5%AS on non-target beneficial organisms in tea gardens

Treatments	Concentration/ha	Non-target beneficial insect populations (mean* ± SE)
		Chrysoperla carnea		Oxyopes javanus		Stethorus gilvifrons
		Day-0	Day-14	Day-0	Day-14	Day-0	Day-14
Metarhizium anisopliae s.l. 5%AS	600 ml^$	0.11 ± 0.002	0.12 ± 0.002	0.08 ± 0.001	0.11 ± 0.002	0.14 ± 0.003	0.16 ± 0.004
	800 ml^$	0.12 ± 0.002	0.13 ± 0.002	0.09 ± 0.001	0.10 ± 0.002	0.16 ± 0.004	0.14 ± 0.004
	1000 ml^$	0.10 ± 0.002	0.11 ± 0.002	0.07 ± 0.001	0.10 ± 0.002	0.17 ± 0.004	0.17 ± 0.005
	1200 ml^$	0.11 ± 0.002	0.12 ± 0.002	0.08 ± 0.001	0.09 ± 0.001	0.16 ± 0.004	0.16 ± 0.005
Metarhizium anisopliae s.l. 5%AS + Thiamethoxam 25WG	1000 ml^$ + 100 gm	0.10 ± 0.002	0.11 ± 0.002	0.08 ± 0.001	0.10 ± 0.002	0.17 ± 0.005	0.14 ± 0.004
Thiamethoxam 25WG	100 gm	0.12 ± 0.002	0.11 ± 0.002	0.09 ± 0.001	0.09 ± 0.001	0.14 ± 0.004	0.13 ± 0.002
Untreated control	–	0.12 ± 0.002	0.12 ± 0.002	0.11 ± 0.002	0.11 ± 0.002	0.16 ± 0.004	0.16 ± 0.005

Values represent the mean number of non-target beneficial insect populations before treatment (0 day) and after 14 days (7 days after 2nd spray). No significant differences were recorded for each species of test insects population, between the 0 day and after 14 days (P > 0.05; independent t-test)
^$Containing 2 × 10⁷ conidia/ml
*Values represent the mean of three replications ± Standard Error