## 4 Discussion  
All experiments were performed using fresh cultures of _B. bassiana_ strains from frozen stocks, considering former reports indicating important correlations between the number of subcultures and the stability of genetic and physiological parameters [28] of _B. bassiana_ in germination, conidial, and virulence [29]. Manufacture and formulation are the decisive elements of the success of an entomopathogenic fungus as a commercial biocontrol agent. Solid substrate fermentation for aerial-conidia and liquid culture fermentation for blastospores are typical methods for their massive production. Although aerial-conidia contain the main active ingredients as biocontrol agents, they require weeks for sporulation and fermentation, which is reduced by using blastospores. We used blastospores in our study because they tolerate drying and continue to be viable after long-term storage [30]. To assure blastospores viability and \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline \hline
**Parameters** & **CC** & **MCGHA** \\ \hline Average weight of fresh corn & & \\ cob in g & & \\ \hline Average length of fresh corn & & \\ cob in cm & & \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: Average weight and length of corn cobs obtained at harvesting time. Figure 7: Presence of _S. frugiperda_ in the field trial experiment 1. There were found 52 total larvae in CC furrows and 40 total larvae in GHA furrows. As insects’ distribution appeared to be related to the location of the plants, the frequency of larvae found per furrow is presented. 25 CC furrows = Negative control plants. 33 GHA furrows = _B. bassiana_ strain GHA with methylcellulose treated plants. The analysis GLM-fitted with negative binomial distribution showed Pearson chi-square value of 0.311, indicating the goodness of fit of the data. The Omnibus test value of 0.539 indicated a non-statistically significant model. The Type III Test of Model effects showed \(p\) = 0.342 for the treatments (CC/GHA). stability during exposure to direct sunlight or ultraviolet radiation, methylcellulose can be used to make blastospore formulations [12; 31]. At present, foliar spraying, plant dipping, stem injection, seed coating, and root or soil drenching methods have been used to inoculate artificially entomogenic fungi into different plants. [PERSON] et al. [32] reported that seed coating and foliar treatments were used in most published bioassays for artificial inoculation. Some studies demonstrated that leaves are loose passages for entomopathogenic fungus entry to colonize plants [20; 33]. However, effective endophytic colonization of these fungi depends on factors such as plant age, fungal species, inoculation methods, and exposure to direct sunlight and rain, among others. Diverse studies show that _B. bussiana_ does not maintain its survival and viability after exposure to direct sunlight or ultraviolet radiation [31; 34]. Nevertheless, various studies reported that formulation with natural substances overcomes this obstacle [31; 35; 36; 37]. In the present study, we used a methylcellulose seed coating method to aim for effective colonization of _Zea mays_ seeds and maintain the viability and perhaps the virulence of _B. bussiana_ blastospores. _Z. mays_ germination percentage in all treatments, including negative controls, did not show differences under field and laboratory conditions; therefore, neither the fungus nor the adherent affected germination, which was similar to the results reported by [PERSON] and [PERSON] [38], who showed that neither _B. bussiana_ nor _M. brunneum_ altered _V. fida_ seed germination. In contrast, [PERSON] et al. [8] reported an enhancement in the germination of _B. bussiana_-treated _Z. mays_ seeds. Previous results in our laboratory demonstrated that _B. bussiana_ and methylcellulose do not have inhibitory effects on _Z. mays_ germination [26]. We analyzed the effect of maize seed treatments by _B. bussiana_ GHA and a native strain (PTG4) under laboratory conditions on the physiology of _S. frugiperda_.