Epizootic in gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) population in the field protective forest belts of State Hunting Enterprise Balchik in 2022

Biological control of gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) was carried out in 2021 in the field protective forest belts at the territory of the State Hunting Enterprise Balchik by introducing the entomopathogenic fungus Entomophaga maimaiga (Entomophthorales: Entomophthoraceae). In the same year a mortalit...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Georgi Georgiev, Margarita Georgieva, Plamen Mirchev, Sevdalin Belilov, Maria Matova, Veselin Ivanov, Radoslav Radev, Maria Kirilova
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Pensoft Publishers 2023-07-01
Series:Silva Balcanica
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Online Access:https://silvabalcanica.pensoft.net/article/108600/download/pdf/
Description
Summary:Biological control of gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) was carried out in 2021 in the field protective forest belts at the territory of the State Hunting Enterprise Balchik by introducing the entomopathogenic fungus Entomophaga maimaiga (Entomophthorales: Entomophthoraceae). In the same year a mortality rate of 26.1% of the pest population was registered. In 2022 E. maimaiga and multiple nuclear polyhedrosis virus of L dispar (LdMNPV) caused a population collapse of the pest in the region. Azygospores of E. maimaiga were reported in the cadavers of about 5% of middle- and late-instar dead host larvae with LdMNPV polyhedra, which is an indirect indication of initial infection by the fungal pathogen. The epizootic of gypsy moth in the Balchik region is the first recorded case of coinfection by E. maimaiga and LdMNPV in Bulgaria. 
ISSN:2815-2549