Abstract

Entomopathogenic fungi are the natural enemies of insect pests. This study aimed to isolate and characterize entomopathogenic fungi from insect cadavers of two human-associated pests collected from different locations at Umaru Musa Yar’adua University, Katsina. Twenty (20) insect cadaver samples of cockroaches and houseflies were collected from four (4) different locations and transferred to the Microbiology laboratory for analysis. The samples of insect were surface-sterile and placed in a PDA media supplemented with antibiotics. Fungal growth was monitored, sub-cultured into a fresh potato dextrose agar (PDA) and identified using a standard protocol. Samples of the insects were surface-sterilized and placed in a PDA medium with antibiotics. Results showed the occurrence of five (5) different species of fungal isolates that includes: Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigates, Rhizophus oryzae, Microsporum niger and Aspergillus niger. A total of 17 isolates of fungi were recovered from 20 samples of houseflies and cockroaches. Aspergillus niger is the most encountered species with 29.41%, followed by Aspergillus flavus and Rhizopus oryzae each with 23.53% and other isolated fungi were Aspergillus fumigatus at 17.65% and Microsporum canis 5.88%. The presence of these fungal isolates showed that they secrete an active compound which leads to the extinction of host insects. It is recommended that further research should be conducted to obtain a molecular mechanism of their relationship.

Musa, A., Abbas, Z.I., Suleiman, M., Wagini, N.H., Yusuf, A.M., Sani, I., Huzaifa Sani, H., 2024. Isolation and Identification of Entomopathogenic Fungi from Two Human-Associated Pests: Flies and Cockroaches (Insect Vector’s Disease). Research Biotica, 2024, online first.