| Elasmopalpus lignosellus (Zeller, 1848) (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae) is an insect pest of 60 economically important crops, including sugarcane, wheat, soybean, rice, beans, sorghum, peanuts, and cotton. The aim of this work was to select and characterize Bacillus thuringiensis isolates with insecticidal activity against E. Lignosellus that could be used as an alternative method of control. Selective bioassays were done to evaluate the toxicity of 47 isolates against first instar larvae of E. lignosellus. For the most toxic bacterial strains, the lethal concentration (LC50) was estimated and morphological, biochemical and molecular methods were used to characterize the isolates. Among the 47 isolates tested, 12 caused mortality above 85% and showed LC50 values... |
