African Water Storage Pots for the Delivery of the Entomopathogenic Fungus Metarhizium anisopliae to the Malaria Vectors Anopheles gambiae s.s. and Anopheles funestus

摘要

Abstract. We studied the use of African water storage pots for point source application of Metarhizium anisopliaenagainst the malaria vectors Anopheles gambiae s.s. and An. funestus. Clay pots were shown to be attractive resting sitesnfor male and female An. gambiae s.s. and were not repellent after impregnation with fungus. M. anisopliae was highlyninfective and virulent after spray application inside pots. At a dosage of 4 × 1010 conidia/m2, an average of 95 ± 1.2%nof An. gambiae s.s. obtained a fungal infection. A lower dosage of 1 × 1010 conidia/m2 infected an average of 91.5 ± 0.6%nof An. gambiae s.s. and 91.8 ± 1.2% of An. funestus mosquitoes. Fungal infection significantly reduced mosquitonlongevity, as shown by differences between survival curves and LT50 values. These pots are suitable for application ofnentomopathogenic fungi against malaria vectors and their potential for sustainable field implementation is discussed.