Fig. 2
Insecticidal activity of B. bassiana ERL836 and JEF-007 against adults of western flower thrips in laboratory conditions (a) and mycosis of the infected thrips in 5 days (b). Virulence assays against adults of western flower thrips were conducted in laboratory conditions. Conidial suspensions were adjusted to 1 × 105, 1 × 106, 1 × 107, and 1 × 108 conidia ml− 1 and a 1-ml aliquot of conidial suspension was sprayed on a cucumber leaf disc in a Petri dish and ten two-day-old thrips adults were transferred to the fungus-treated dish (11 adults/dish). LC50 values of the two isolates were calculated using day-3 data, which was followed by LT50 data. Cadavers (mycosis) were observed 5 days after treatments. Means with the same letters are not significantly different (p > 0.05)