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Natural occurrence of entomopathogenic fungus, Aschersonia aleyrodis on citrus whitefly, Dialeurodes citri (Ashmead) in Kinnow mandarin in Punjab, India

Surveys were conducted during 2017 and 2018 in the citrus orchards of Punjab, India to record the incidence of different insect pests and their natural enemies. During October-December, Entomopathogenic Fungus (EPF), Aschersonia aleyrodis was found to infect nymphs and pupae of citrus whitefly, Dialeurodes citri on the lower leaf surface of Kinnow from the orchards of Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Mansa and Fazilka districts.The fungus was isolated from the infected nymphs and pupae and morphological studies were conducted to confirm the identity of the entomopathogenic fungus. Aschersonia aleyrodis was reported for the first time on D. citri under Punjab conditions and this EPF also confirmed by amplification and sequencing of beta tubulin gene showed 99.40 per cent identity in NCBI, GenBank. Hence further studies on the host range, interaction with other insect pests and parasitoids, survival and longevity should be conducted to explore the potential of this fungus as microbial biocontrol agent for citrus whitefly.