Beauveria bassiana

Beauveria bassiana
Grasshoppers killed by B. bassiana
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Sordariomycetes
Order: Hypocreales
Family: Cordycipitaceae
Genus: Beauveria
Species:
B. bassiana
Binomial name
Beauveria bassiana
Synonyms
  • Botrytis bassiana Bals.-Criv. (1836) (Basonym)
  • several others: see Species fungorum

Beauveria bassiana is a fungus that grows naturally in soils throughout the world and acts as a parasite on various arthropod species, causing white muscardine disease; it thus belongs to the group of entomopathogenic fungi. It is used as a biological insecticide to control a number of pests, including termites, thrips, whiteflies, aphids and various beetles. Its use in the control of bed bugs[1] and malaria-transmitting mosquitos is under investigation.[2]

  1. ^ Barbarin, Alexis M.; Jenkins, Nina E.; Rajotte, Edwin G.; Thomas, Matthew B. (15 September 2012). "A preliminary evaluation of the potential of Beauveria bassiana for bed bug control" (PDF). Journal of Invertebrate Pathology. 111 (1): 82–85. doi:10.1016/j.jip.2012.04.009. PMID 22555012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 July 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  2. ^ Donald G. McNeil Jr., Fungus Fatal to Mosquito May Aid Global War on Malaria, The New York Times, 10 June 2005