NATURAL OCCURRENCE AND CHARACTERISTICS OF ENTOMOPATHOGENIC FUNGI ISOLATED FROM RED PALM WEEVIL IN SICILY (ITALY).

Introduction: Originally from tropical Asia, the red palm weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier)) is the most dangerous and deadly pest of date, coconut, oil, sago and other palms. It has spread to Africa and Europe, reaching the Mediterranean in the 1980s, and was first recorded in Sicily (Italy) in 2005. Due to its recent introduction and the difficulty of its control, to known the natural pathogens of RPW in the introduced areas is very important. Methods: Pupae from infested palms Phoenix canariensis Hort. were collected. The entomopathogenic fungi were isolated and growth. Because of it is possible to growth only the 1% of the known fungi, the identification of entomopathogens is done also using specific molecular markers (e.g. microsatellites and ITS) and microscopical analysis (SEM, CLSM). Results and conclusion: This is the first report of a native fungal pathogen affecting the pupa of R. ferrugineus in Italy. About 30% of pupae collected in Palermo (Sicily) were infected with the entomopathogens. Symptoms of fungal infection included rapid pupal tissue atrophy and failure of adults to emerge, death. Dissections of infected pupae revealed dense hyphal growth inside pupae, thus suggesting fungal penetration and pathogenicity.