Melon thrips, Thrips palmi Karny (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) is a serious insect pest of various crops in the world. The management of this pest mainly have relied on chemical agents. However, the overuse of chemical agents for long times causes insect resistance, and negative effects on environment. Therefore, alternative control methods, such as biological control, that are less harmful to the environment and have different mode of action are needed to control this pest. In this study, we isolated entomopathogenic fungi from Korean soil, and characterized them via morphological and molecular identifications and pathogenicity check against Tenebrio molitor larvae. The isolated fungi were subjected to virulence assay against T. Palmi with a conidial suspension of 1×107 conidia/ml in laboratory conditions. This entomopathogenic fungi library would be a good resource to select effective strains for the control of T. palmi in fields.

• Dongwei Li(Department of Agricultural Biology, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Chonbuk National University, Korea)
• Sihyeon Kim(Department of Agricultural Biology, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Chonbuk National University, Korea)
• Se Jin Lee(Department of Agricultural Biology, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Chonbuk National University, Korea)
• Mi Rong Lee(Department of Agricultural Biology, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Chonbuk National University, Korea)
• Jong Cheol Kim(Department of Agricultural Biology, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Chonbuk National University, Korea)
• So Eun Park(Department of Agricultural Biology, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Chonbuk National University, Korea)
• Tae Young Shin(Department of Agricultural Biology, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Chonbuk National University, Korea)
• Jae Su Kim(Department of Agricultural Biology, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Chonbuk National University, Korea, Plant Medical Research Center, Chonbuk National University, Korea)