Inhibition of Metarhizium anisopliae infection of Protaetia brevitarsis seluensis larvae using several effective microorganisms

The purpose of this study was to determine the best method for minimizing the occurrence of Metarhizium anisopliae infection of Protaetia brevitarsis seluensis during mass breeding on agricultural farms. There is a high demand for the use of P. b. seluensis larvae in animal feed and as food for humans. However, mass breeding results in the entomopathogenic fungal (usually M. anisopliae) infection of P. b. seluensis. A mixture of microorganisms (Bacillus subtilis, Lactobacillus plantarum, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae) delayed fungal infection by M. anisopliae, which infected fewer P. b. seluensis when the microorganism mixture was added to sawdust as feed for P. b. seluensis. When sawdust with the effective microorganisms (EM) was given to P. b. seluensis for 30 d, their mortality rate was approximately 35 % less than that of the control group, which was fed sawdust without the EM. In addition, the growth of M. anisopliae on agar media spread with each bacterium as inhibited by up to 80 % more than those spread with 4 % sodium hypochlorite, which is a harmless fungal inhibitor generally used in agricultural farms for disinfection.