FRESENIUS ENVIRONMENTAL BULLETIN, cilt.31, sa.1A, ss.1537-1540, 2022 (SCI-Expanded)
The lesser mealworm Alphitobius diaperinus Panzer (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) also known as the litter beetle or darkling beetle is a major pest in poultry production systems, especially in broiler houses. We evaluated the insecticidal activity of several commercial Bacillus based products against A. diaperinus for their effectiveness as an alternative to non-microbial pesticides. Generally, larvicidal toxicity of Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki, B. thuringiensis israelensis, B. thuringiensis aizawai, and B. subtilis on fifth instars (approximately 25 days old) showed very low toxicity (<25%) and sufficient success has not been achieved in the feeding studies of A. diaperinus that continued for 12 days. The results clearly show that the Bacillus products evaluated in this study would not provide adequate larval control of A. diaperinus compared with commercial non-microbial pesticide formulations currently in the marketplace.