Abstract:
Literature on Bacillus thurimgiensis Berlinerin relation to insect pest control has been reviewed. Susceptibility of twentysix diferent species of caterpillar pests, commonly occuring in Kerala, to infection by B. thuringiensis spores has been ascertained. Susceptibilityof seventeen of these caterpillars to the bacterium has been tested for the first time.
In a screening experiment all the twentysix species of caterpillars have been infected by feeding them with food materials dipped in the spore suspension of B. thuringiensis containing 12.5 x 10 spores per 100 cc.