Potential of Entomopathogens in Biological Control of Pine Processionary Moth (Thaumetopoea Pityocampa (Den. & Schiff.): A Brief Literature Review

Abstract

Pine processionary moth, Thaumetopoea pityocampa (Den. & Schiff.) is a serious pest in pine forests. This pest ex-tends its geographical distribution, currently ranging from North Africa to Europe, which includes Turkey. Its larvae cause defoliation by eating leaves mainly on coniferous spe-cies, Pinus brutia, P. nigra, P. pinaster, and P. pinea in Turkey. To-day, the fight against T. pityocampa is not successful enough. En-tomopathogenic microorganisms such as viruses, bacteria, pro-tists, fungi and nematodes are promising agents for pest control. There are some studies on the entomopathogenic organisms that cause diseases in the natural populations of T. pityocampa. The T. pityocampa populations can be controlled with entomopathogens such as Bacillus thuringiensis, cypovirus and fungi. Investigations to find the most effective entomopathogen against T. pityocampa should be continued. In this paper, recent developments about entomopathogens, which are either isolated or tested, are dis-cussed as potential agents against T. pityocampa.