Beauveria bassiana is a naturally occurring fungus that is pathogenic to several groups of arthropods. It is available in different commercial formulations for pest management in agriculture, nurseries, landscape, greenhouse, turf, and home gardens.
Mechanical strawberry transplanter, the first of its kind in California, developed from collaboration among Driscoll's, Plantel, and Solex. (Photo by Surendra Dara) Strawberry is one of those crops with high input costs and labor is one of the major expenses in strawberry production.
A variety of arthropod pests attack strawberries in California and farmers primarily use chemical pesticides for pest management (CDPR, 2014 and Zalom et al. 2014).
Lygus bug (Lygus hesperus) adult (above) and young nymph (below). (Photos by Rodney Cooper, USDA-ARS and Surendra Dara) Lygus bug or the western tarnished plant bug, Lygus hesperus is a major pest of strawberries in California (Zalom et al. 2014).
