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The Fungi: Yeasts and Warm Fuzzies |
Chapter: 6
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A Moldy Solution Two reports in 1989 provided insight about the industrial use of fungi as biological insecticides. The first report came from the northeastern United States, where ravenous multitudes of gypsy moths were devastating trees from New Hampshire to Pennsylvania. In the middle of June, however, the gypsy moths began to die off en masse. It was then that mycologists from the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station began a systematic study to determine the cause of the die-off. Their report: A fungus named Entomophaga ("insect-eater") was killing gypsy moth caterpillars. Before 1989, the fungus had not been identified in the United States. Eventually it was located in seven states. Almost simultaneously, mycologists from North Dakota were reporting that Entomophaga grylii can be used to kill crop-destroying grasshoppers. Apparently the fungus produces enzymes that help it penetrate the tough outer skeleton of the insect. Then it circulates in the insect’s blood, attacking its body tissues and fat reserves. The grasshopper dies within a week, but the fungus lives on by producing spores that attack other grasshoppers. This particular strain of E. grylii is known to exist in Australia, and it may be identical to the fungus observed in the gypsy moth caterpillars. Scientists anticipate that laboratory safety tests will be followed by the release of infected grasshoppers to crop-plagued areas to test the efficiency of the fungus as an insecticide. Then, on to the consumer—maybe.
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