author(s)
Farid Asif Shaheen, Muhammad Waseem Akram, Muhammad Aamir Rashid, Muhammad Nadeem, Muhammad Saeed, Mureed Husain and Khalid Mehmood

abstract
The entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana was used as biological control agent to control pulse beetle Callosobruchus chinensis in chickpea grains at different temperatures. Five concentrations (1×10⁶, 1×10⁷, 1×10⁸, 1×10⁹ and 1×10¹⁰ spores/ml) of commercially available conidia of B. bassiana were prepared by adding the sterile 0.02% tween 80 in distilled water. Haemocytometer was used for counting spores. Mortality of pulse beetle was directly proportional to concentrations of B. bassiana. B. bassiana was less effective at 25 ºC as compared to 30 ºC. At 25 ºC, highest mortality was recorded at concentration of 1×10¹⁰ spores/ml after 5, 10 and 15 days and vice versa. At 30 ºC, B. bassiana showed better results and all pulse beetles were died after 15 days at each concentration. This effective control strategy has significant contribution towards development of commercial microbial formulations of B. bassiana and is recommended to be a part of integrated pest management of pulse beetle.