## 3 Results and Discussion
Thus, the variation in the pathogenic potential of different species of entomopathogenic fungi in insects occurs as a result of the metabolic and genetic differences inherent to each isolate, mainly owing to their adaptation to their original environment. The different values observed in the mortality of _T. molitor_ when exposed to the entomopathogenic fungi isolates tested in this study show the presence of physiological differences in the fungi, which may indicate a greater capacity for the production of enzymes mediating the infectious process and the existence of greater specificity regarding the target insect. The production of biomass of the entomopathogenic fungi in liquid medium showed significant variation (F\({}_{15,47}\) = 15.857; \(p\) = 0.000), and the SE201 isolate (_M. anisopliae_) stood out for presenting the highest average biomass production among all tested isolates (0.86 g/100 mL) (Table 1). The isolates SE104, SE107, SE109, SE111, Psi, 447, 1213, 1258, and SE202 did not present significant differences in their biomass production results, varying between 0.46 and 0.52 g/100 mL. The SE301 isolate (_I. fumosorosea_) had the lowest average biomass production among all tested isolates (0.28 g/100 mL). SE101, SE103, SE106, SE110, and 1260 isolates presented intermediate values of average biomass production, not forming a significantly different group (Tukey \(p\) < 0.05). Mycelial development in culture media is the first step towards the use of entomopathogenic fungi in biological control or biological synthesis of nanoparticles. In addition, this step can be used to modulate the metabolism of the fungus, by modifying the nutrients in the culture medium, or it can show the differences in the development of fungi when compared under the same nutritional conditions. [PERSON] et al. (2010) [21] compared different isolates of _B. bassiana_, under the same nutritional conditions used in our study, and reported a variation in biomass production between 1.4 and 1.84 g/100 mL. [PERSON] et al. (2012) [22] observed that an isolate of _B. bassiana_ showed biomass production of 0.635 g/100 mL for 15 days at 28 \({}^{\circ}\)C.  
In another study, a _B. bassiana_ maximum mycelial biomass production value of 0.52 g/100 mL was observed in 7 days, and _M. anisopliae_ showed biomass production of 0.692 g/100 mL when incubated for 10 days at 25 \({}^{\circ}\)C [23]. The _B. bassiana_ isolates used in our study showed biomass production lower than the values reported in the literature. However, the isolate of _M. anisopliae_ SE201 had a higher production than that observed in the literature (0.86 g/100 mL), while isolate SE202 had a lower production (0.46 g/100 mL). [PERSON] et al. (2010) [13] observed mycelial production of _Isaria fumosorosea_ of 0.44 g/98 mL after 4 days of incubation, a value higher than that observed for isolate SE301 (0.28 g/100 mL). \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c} \hline \hline
**Fungi** & **Pathogenicity/Virulence** \\ \hline _B. bassiana_ & Insect mortality: 22–100\% [18]; LT50: 2 days [20] \\ \hline _M. anisopliae_ & Insect mortality: 82–100\% [18]; LT50: 2 days [20] \\ \hline _Isaria_ & Insect mortality: 95\% [19] \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: Previous results on the action of _B. bassiana_, _M. anisopliae_, and _Isaria_ against _T. molitor_. Differences in the growth of filamentous fungi in submerged cultures are associated with metabolic variations and with the kinetic growth of fungi. Therefore, different species or isolates of the same species may vary in the nutritional requirement necessary for them to develop optimally [24]. All isolates of entomopathogenic fungi used in this study were subjected to the same conditions of cultivation and incubation, indicating that the variation observed in the biomass production of these isolates is due to their physiological characteristics. The AgNPs' synthesis under biological conditions is described in the literature. Using this methodology, particles of nanometer size are commonly obtained.