# The Current State and Future Potential of Microbial Control of Scarab Pests
## 4 Bacteria
### Bacillus thuringiensis  
_Bacillus thuringiensis_ (_Bt_) is a Gram-positive bacteria commonly found in soil habitats throughout the world. Tens of thousands of _Bt_ strains exist, and they produce over 300 different types of toxins, many of which possess insecticidal properties [24], making _Bt_ arguably the most useful microbe for insect control. _Bt_ endotoxins facilitate the germination of bacterial spores by binding to receptors on the gut epithelium and forming pores in the gut wall. This allows the spores to enter the hemocoel and germinate, resulting in the death of the larvae through septicemia and/or starvation [19; 25]. As a soil-dwelling bacteria, _B. thuringiensis_ live in a close association with white grubs. Although _Bt_ toxins are predominantly used to control lepidopteran, and to a lesser extent, coleopteran pests, several _Bt_ subspecies also produce endotoxins that negatively affect scarabs. Of the 25 different _Bt_ toxins that have demonstrated toxicity on white grubs, only one bacterial strain, _Bt_ galleriae, is commercially available as a spore formulation to control white grubs in the U.S. (Table 1). Table 2 shows all of the _Bt_ endotoxins that have exhibited some degree of toxicity to scarab species. The _Bt_ subspecies shown to control larval scarabs are _Bt_ tolworthi (expressing Cry3 Ba endotoxin) [26], _Bt_ kumamotoensis (expressing Cry7 Ab, Cry8 Aa, and Cry8 Ba) [27], _Bt_ galleriae (expressing Cry8 Da) [28; 29; 30], and _Bt_ japonensis (expressing Cry8 Ca) [30; 31; 32; 33]. Several scarab species are also susceptible to a range of endotoxins from other _Bt_ strains, shown in Table 2[33]. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l c c} \hline \hline
**Product** & **Species/Strain** & **Estimated Cost/Acre** \\ \hline Fungi & & _B. bassiana_ & \$245–900 \\ BotaniGard 22 WP (GHA; BioWorks) & & _B. bassiana_ & \$23–92 \\ BotaniGard ES (GHA; BioWorks) & & _B. bassiana_ & \$74–295 \\ Mycotrol WPO (GHA; BioWorks) & & _B. bassiana_ & \$30–117 \\ Mycotrol ESO (GHA; BAOWorks) & & _B. bassiana_ & \$130–4520 \\ XPULES OD (GHA; LAM International) & & _B. bassiana_ & \$14–61 \\ BioCeres WP (ANT-03; BioSafe Systems) & & _B. bassiana_ & \$128 \\ Velifer (PPRI 5339; BASF) & & _B. bassiana_ & \$35 \\ balance Darking Beetle gait (JAB; HF) & & _B. bassiana_ & \$35 \\ Natuaris L (ATCC 74040; Lallemand) & & _M. anispieliae_ & \$50–200 \\ Met52 EC (F52; Novozymes Biologicals Inc.) & & _I. tanyosrosaa_ & \$36–72 \\ PFR-97 20\% WDG (Appka 97; Certis USA) & & _I. fumosrosaa_ & \$56–225 \\ NoFly WP (FE9901; Blacksmith Bioscience) & & _I. fumosrosaa_ & \$56–225 \\ \hline Nematodes & & & \\ NemaSeek (Arbico Organics) & & _H. bacteriophora, S. ravansei, H. india_ & \$72 \\ NemaAttack (Arbico Organics) & & _H. bacteriophora, S. feltiae, S. ribrave,_ & \$72 \\ Larvanem (Kopperti Biologial Systems) & & _S. arrapocapsae_ & \$72 \\ Millennium (BASF) & & _H. bacteriophora_ & \$652 \\ Nemgard (Purely Organic Products, LLC) & & _S. caraposapa_ & \$64–1920 \\ Nemashield (BioWorks) & & _S. feltiae_ & \$320 \\ Entonen (Kopperti Biologial Systems) & & _S. feltiae_ & \$604 \\ Nema Globe Grub Busters (The Environmental Factor Inc.) & & _S. carpocapsae and S. feltiae_ & \$441 \\ Field Guardian Nematode Mix (Hydro-Gardens) & & _Heteriopha_ & \$1389 \\ H. bacteriophora (Rincon-Vitova Insectaries) & & _H. bacteriophora_ & \$380 \\ Nemasys (G) (BASF) & & _H. bacteriophora_ & \$300–600 \\ Grub Avary (Gardens Alivé) & & _H. bacteriophora_ & \$400 \\ Nema-green (Biologicher Pflanzenchutz) & & _H. bacteriophora_ & \$656 \\ Terranem (Kopperti Biologial Systems) & & _H. bacteriophora_ & \$644 \\ Heteromask (BioLogic) & & _H. bacteriophora_ & \$1000 \\ Scannask (BioLogic) & & _S. feltiae_ & \$1000 \\ Ecomask (Biologic) & & _S. carpocapsae_ & \$1000 \\ Capsament (Kopperti Biological Systems) & & _S. carpocapsae_ & \$800 \\ Nemastar (Bioforce Limited) & & _S. arpocapsae_ & \$900 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Cont. [PERSON] et al.