## 3 Results and Discussion
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Fungi/Isolate** & **Mortality (\%) \({}^{\star}\)** & **LT\({}_{50}\)\({}^{\star}\)** & **Standard Error \({}^{\star}\)** & **Lower Limit \({}^{\star}\)** & **Upper Limit \({}^{\star}\)** & **Biomass Production (g/100 mL)\({}^{\star}\)\({}^{\star}\)** \\ \hline \multicolumn{8}{c}{_Bauveria bussiana_} \\ \hline SE101 & 14.0 \(\pm\) 5.1 \({}^{\rm e}\) & 9.143 & 0.705 & 7.762 & 10.524 & 0.40 \(\pm\) 0.008 \({}^{\rm bc}\) \\ \hline SE103 & 52.0 \(\pm\) 5.8 \({}^{\rm cd}\) & 6.462 & 0.455 & 5.570 & 7.353 & 0.37 \(\pm\) 0.005 \({}^{\rm bc}\) \\ \hline SE104 & 94.0 \(\pm\) 4.0 \({}^{\rm a}\) & 5.362 & 0.186 & 4.997 & 5.726 & 0.47 \(\pm\) 0.03 \({}^{\rm b}\) \\ \hline SE106 & 80.0 \(\pm\) 7.1 \({}^{\rm abc}\) & 5.900 & 0.263 & 5.385 & 6.415 & 0.42 \(\pm\) 0.02 \({}^{\rm bc}\) \\ \hline SE107 & 92.0 \(\pm\) 5.8 \({}^{\rm ab}\) & 5.312 & 0.149 & 5.020 & 5.605 & 0.46 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\rm b}\) \\ \hline SE109 & 92.0 \(\pm\) 3.7 \({}^{\rm ab}\) & 5.239 & 0.179 & 4.888 & 5.590 & 0.52 \(\pm\) 0.04 \({}^{\rm b}\) \\ \hline SE110 & 64.0 \(\pm\) 7.5 \({}^{\rm bc}\) & 6.188 & 0.382 & 5.438 & 6.937 & 0.41 \(\pm\) 0.04 \({}^{\rm bc}\) \\ \hline SE111 & 92.0 \(\pm\) 3.7 \({}^{\rm ab}\) & 5.674 & 0.247 & 5.190 & 6.158 & 0.47 \(\pm\) 0.05 \({}^{\rm b}\) \\ \hline Psi & 98.0 \(\pm\) 2.0 \({}^{\rm a}\) & 6.320 & 0.264 & 5.802 & 6.838 & 0.50 \(\pm\) 0.06 \({}^{\rm b}\) \\ \hline
447 & 54.0 \(\pm\) 6.8 \({}^{\rm cd}\) & 7.519 & 0.553 & 6.434 & 8.603 & 0.48 \(\pm\) 0.02 \({}^{\rm b}\) \\ \hline
1213 & 28.0 \(\pm\) 7.3 \({}^{\rm de}\) & 5.286 & 0.714 & 3.886 & 6.686 & 0.47 \(\pm\) 0.02 \({}^{\rm b}\) \\ \hline
1260 & 69.1 \(\pm\) 9.5 \({}^{\rm ac}\) & 4.636 & 0.199 & 4.247 & 5.026 & 0.42 \(\pm\) 0.03 \({}^{\rm bc}\) \\ \hline
1258 & 92.0 \(\pm\) 3.7 \({}^{\rm ab}\) & 5.261 & 0.248 & 4.776 & 5.746 & 0.52 \(\pm\) 0.03 \({}^{\rm b}\) \\ \hline  & & & & & & \\ \hline \multicolumn{8}{c}{_Metrahizium anisopliae_} \\ \hline SE201 & 78.0 \(\pm\) 8.0 \({}^{\rm abc}\) & 8.590 & 0.505 & 7.601 & 9.579 & 0.86 \(\pm\) 0.03 \({}^{\rm a}\) \\ \hline SE202 & 86.2 \(\pm\) 2.5 \({}^{\rm ab}\) & 4.864 & 0.177 & 4.517 & 5.210 & 0.46 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\rm b}\) \\ \hline  & & & & & & \\ \hline \multicolumn{8}{c}{_Isaria funososaea_} \\ \hline SE301 & 10.0 \(\pm\) 3.2 \({}^{\rm e}\) & 4.200 & 1.828 & 0.618 & 7.782 & 0.28 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\rm c}\) \\ \hline \multicolumn{8}{c}{\({}^{\star}\) Standard error, low limit, and upper limit of the LT\({}_{50}\)\({}^{\star}\) mean values of confirmed mortality, with standard error and Tukey test (\(p\) < 0.05);} \\ \multicolumn{8}{c}{\({}^{\star}\) lethal time 50 (LT\({}_{50}\))—time estimative (days) necessary for the fungus to cause 50% of confirmed mortality, \({}^{\star}\)\({}^{\star}\) mean values of fungal biomass production with standard error and Tukey test (\(p\) < 0.05).} \\ \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Pathogenicity of isolates of entomopathogenic fungi against _Tenebrio molitor_ larvae and fungal biomass production. larvae of 22-100%, whereas with _M. anisopliae_ isolates, a result between 82 and 100% was observed [18]. There is no evaluation of the action of _I. fumosorosea_ conidia directly against _T. molitor_, but, comparing the action of other phylogenetically approximate fungus species, we observed that _Isaria cateniunnuluta_ showed high virulence against _T. molitor_ (95%), at a concentration of 1 \(\times\) 108 conidia/mL, confirming the existence of the pathogen-host interaction between _T. molitor_ and _Isaria_ isolates [19]. At about LT50, isolates of _Beaureeria_ and _Metarhizium_ were shown to promote LT50 in 2 days, indicating greater virulence than that observed in our isolates [20]. The pathogenicity and virulence of entomopathogenic fungi are directly related to their ability to penetrate and infest the body of insects, with these characteristics being mediated by the production of enzymes and mycotoxin release into the extracellular medium.