Investigations on Bacteria as a Potential Biological Control Agent of Summer Chafer, Amphimallon solstitiale L. (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)

Studying the bacteria of hazardous insects allows the opportunity to find potentially better biological control agents. Therefore, in this study, bacteria from summer chafer (Amphimallon solstitiale L., Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) we isolated and identified the insecticidal effects of bacteria isolated from A. solstitiale and Melolontha melolontha L. (common cockchafer, Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) and the mixtures of these bacterial isolates were investigated on A. solstitiale larvae. Crystals from Bacillus sp. isolated from M. melolontha were also purified, and tested against the second and third-stage larvae of A. solstitiale. The bacterial isolates of A. solstitiale were identified as Pseudomonas sp., Pseudomonas sp., Bacillus cereus and Micrococcus luteus, based on their morphology, spore formation, nutritional features, and physiological and biochemical characteristics. The insecticidal effects of the bacterial isolates determined on the larvae of A. solstitiale were $90\%$ with B. cereus isolated from A. solstitiale, and $75\%$ with B. cereus, B. sphaericus and B. thuringiensis isolated from M. melolontha within ten days. The highest insecticidal effects of the mixed infections on the larvae of A. solstitiale were $100\%$ both with B. cereus+B. sphaericus and with B. cereus+B. thuringiensis. In the crystal protein bioassays, the highest insecticidal effect was $65\%$ with crystals of B. thuringiensis and B. sphaericus isolated from M. melolontha within seven days. Finally, our results showed that the mixed infections could be utilized as microbial control agents, as they have a $100\%$ insecticidal effect on the larvae of A. solstitiale.