Researchers discover fungus with potential to control cocoa pests in the Amazon

A team of researchers from the Toribio Rodríguez de Mendoza National University of Amazonas (UNTRM), in collaboration with the University of Nariño (Colombia), discovered a new species of fungus capable of naturally eliminating the bedbugs that affect cacao crops, offering a sustainable alternative to the use of chemical insecticides. Laboratory and field tests confirmed that this fungus effectively infects and kills cacao bedbugs (Antiteuchus tripterus), demonstrating its potential as a biocontrol agent and a key tool for protecting one of the most important crops in the Amazonas region. During research conducted in Bagua and Utcubamba plantations, specialists from the Institute for Research on Sustainable Development of Ceja de Selva (INDES-CES) identified specimens of bedbugs infected by fungi. Morphological and molecular analyses revealed that it was the species Purpureocillium takamizusanense, recorded for the first time in the Americas and originally described in Asia. The ...