Combined Effects of Entomopathogenic Fungi, Plant Extracts, and Biorational Insecticides on Morocain endemic bush cricket Eugaster spinulosa Johansson (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) Infesting Opuntia spp

Mohamed.elaalaoui@inra.ma EL AALAOUI¹Said Rammali^2,3Fatima Zahra Kamal⁴Alin Ciobica^5,6,7,8Cristina Albert^9*Vasile Burlui⁹Bogdan Novac¹⁰Bouchaib Bencharki¹¹Mohamed Sbaghi¹²

• ¹1National Institute of Agricultural Research, Avenue Ennasr, BP 415 Rabat principal, 10090, Rabat, Morocco
• ²HumanNutrition, Bioacives and Oncogenetics Team, Faculty of Sciences, Moulay Ismail University,, Meknes 11201, Morocco
• ³Laboratory of Agro-Alimentary and Health, Faculty of Sciences and Techniques, Hassan First University of Settat, B.P. 539,, Settat 26000, Morocco
• ⁴Health Care and Biology-Health Team, 2S2D Laboratory, Higher Institute of Nursing and Health Techniques of Casablanca (ISPITS), Casablanca 20100, Morocco
• ⁵Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iași, Romania
• ⁶Olga Necrasov” Center, Department of Biomedical Research, Romanian Academy, 010071 Iasi, Romania
• ⁷Ioan Haulica” Institute, Apollonia University, Pacurari Street 11, 700511 Iasi, Romania
• ⁸CENEMED Platform for Interdisciplinary Research, “Grigore T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Iasi, 16th Universitatii Street, 700115 Iasi, Romania
• ⁹Clinical Department, Apollonia University, Păcurari Street 11, 700511 Iasi, Romania
• ¹⁰Faculty of Medicine, “Grigore T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Iasi, 16th Universitatii Street, 700115 Iasi, Romania
• ¹¹Laboratory of Agro-Alimentary and Health, Faculty of Sciences and Techniques, Hassan First University of Settat, B.P. 539, Settat 26000, Morocco
• ¹²National Institute of Agricultural Research, Avenue Ennasr, BP 415 Rabat principal, 10090 Rabat, Morocco

Eugaster spinulosa Johansson (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) poses a serious threat to Opuntia spp. cultivation in Morocco, requiring effective control strategies. This study evaluated the individual and combined effects of two entomopathogenic fungi (Alternaria destruens (AD) and A. murispora (AM) at 10¹⁰ conidia/mL), three plant extracts (Nicotiana glauca (NG), Capsicum annuum (CA) (Solanaceae), and Ricinus communis (RC) (Euphorbiaceae) at 10% (w/v)), and two biorational insecticides (mineral oil at 1000 cc/hl (MO) and potassium salts of fatty acids at 300 cc/hl (PFA)) on E. spinulosa under laboratory (26 ± 2 °C, 16:8 L:D photoperiod) and screenhouse conditions (26 ± 2 °C, natural light). The most effective combinations (AM+CA+MO+PFA, AM+RC+MO+PFA, and AM+NG+MO+PFA) significantly reduced egg densities by week 5 to 4.8-5.1 eggs in the laboratory, and 8.5-8.9 eggs in the screenhouse, respectively, compared to 26.3 and 44.6 eggs in the untreated controls. Motile stages (nymphs and adults) were also reduced to 2.8–3.2 individuals in the laboratory and 4.3–4.6 individuals in the screenhouse, compared to 18.7 and 29.5 individuals in controls. Moderate reductions were observed with single applications of A. murispora (11.5 motile stages, 14.3 eggs) and mineral oil (13.6 motile stages, 16.7 eggs) under screenhouse conditions. Tween 80 showed negligible effects. All effective treatments significantly enhanced plant visual quality, with scores reaching 9.2–9.3 by week 5, compared to 4.1 in the control group. These findings show that combining A. murispora, C. annuum, R. communis, N. glauca, and biorational insecticides effectively controls E. spinulosa on cactus.