Ovicidal activity of entomopathogenic hyphomycetes on Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) under laboratory conditions.

The ovicidal activity of 21 hyphomycete fungi species against Aedes aegypti (L.) (Diptera: Culicidae) was tested. Fungi with ovicidal activity developed on high numbers of eggs (> or =70%) during 25 d of exposure. A clear ovicidal activity with low values of hatch (1.3-40%) was observed after 25 d of incubation with Isaria farinosa (Holm: Fries) Fries, Paecilomyces carneus (Duché & Heim) Brown & Smith, Paecilomyces marquandii (Massee) Hughes, Isaria fumosorosea (Wize), Metarhizium anisopliae (Metschnikoff) Sorokin, Penicillium sp., Paecilomyces lilacinus (Thom) Samson, Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin, and Evlachovaea kintrischica Borisov & Tarasov. More than 63% of eggs hatched after 25-d exposures to 11 other fungi species deemed as ineffective. These are the first results to show the effects of entomopathogenic fungi against eggs of Ae. aegypti, and they suggest their potential as control agents of this vector.