Isolation and characterization of native insect pathogens from soils of North Afghanistan

In a survey of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) and entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) in the north province of Afghanistan, we identified two EPN which belong to genus Oscheius and Diploscapter and two species of EPF belonging to genus Metarhiziun. We used the Galleria mellonella baiting method. For morphological identification of EPN and EPF light microscope and scanning electron microscope were used. For molecular identification of EPN three genomic regions including ITS, D2/D3 and 18S were used. The collected nematodes were identified as Oscheius tipulae and Diploscapter coronatus. The species of EPF were identified as Metarhizium robertsii and Metarhizium anisopliae. The conidia suspension was applied against subterranean termite, Anacanthotermes vagans, at four different concentrations (1 × 105, 1 × 106, 1 × 107, 1 × 108 conidia/ml). The highest mortality rate was obtained from 1 × 108 conidia/ml for both M. robertsii and B. bassiana. In general, the indigenous isolate M. robertsii was more virulent than B. bassiana while B. varroa does not affect termites.