Virulence of Aerial Conidia of Beauveria bassiana Produced under LED Light to Ctenocephalides felis (Cat Flea)

Abstract

Ctenocephalides felis is an ectoparasitic flea species commonly found on dogs and cats. The current study verified the in vitro virulence of conidia of the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana produced under different color LED light (red, blue, purple, green, yellow, and white) to adults of C. felis. The fungal isolates were cultivated on malt extract agar (MEA). Bioassay treatments used aerial conidia in test tubes. Adult fleas were obtained from a house cat in Chiang Mai province, Thailand. The experiments were composed of one control and eleven treatment groups. All of the treatments with B. bassiana conidia caused adult mortality after an exposure of 12 h. Among the conditions used in this study, B. bassiana cultured under red LED and fluorescent light were the most effective in causing mortality (100 %) in adult fleas after 36 h. The experimental results indicate that these aerial conidia of B. bassiana have promising potential for use in control of C. felis adult stages.