bassiana oil-based formulations ( Table 1). The formulations of M. anisopliae s.l. containing 10, 15, or 20% mineral oil showed control percentages of 58.1, 93.7 and 87.5%, respectively while the aqueous suspension produced 18.7% control ( Table 2). From all the groups treated with B. bassiana, the 10 and 20% oil formulations showed the highest efficacy achieving 18.1 and 21.6% control, respectively ( Table 2). The M. anisopliae oil-based formulations significantly reduced (p < 0.01; df = 7) the incubation period, hatching period, and hatching percentage when compared to the other treatments ( Table 3). The hatching percentage in the selleckchem groups treated with the M. anisopliae s.l. oil-based formulations was reduced as much

as 102.5 times. In contrast, the M. anisopliae

s.l. aqueous suspension significantly reduced (p < 0.05; df = 7) the hatching period and hatching percentage as compared to the aqueous control group ( Table 3). Neither the B. bassiana aqueous suspension nor the oil-based formulations significantly affected (p < 0.05; df = 7) the incubation period when R. microplus eggs were exposed to that fungus ( Table 3). A significant reduction (p < 0.05; df = 7) in the hatching period appeared to be related with exposure to the B. bassiana aqueous suspension and B. bassiana oil-based formulations when compared with the results for the aqueous control group; however, the effect was not observed when results from the same treatments were compared to data obtained for the oil-based control groups ( Table 3). The B. bassiana aqueous suspension caused no selleck products change and in the percentage of larvae hatching. By

contrast, the oil-based formulations significantly reduced (p < 0.05; df = 7) this parameter (27–47.5%) when compared to the control groups (93.5–98.4%) ( Table 3). The oil-based formulations of M. anisopliae s.l. and B. bassiana were more efficient in controlling R. microplus larvae as compared to the aqueous suspensions ( Fig. 1). The mean mortality rate for larvae treated with M. anisopliae s.l. oil-based formulations was close to nearly 100% on the fifth day after treatment while the aqueous fungal suspension caused 2.0% larval mortality ( Fig. 1A). B. bassiana treatments started to cause noticeable larval mortality the tenth day after treatment ( Fig. 1D). Mean larval mortality with the B. bassiana oil-based formulations was close to 100% at 20 days after treatment while the aqueous suspension caused only 27.4% larval mortality ( Fig. 1F). The control group receiving the control treatment containing 20% mineral oil showed average mortality rates of 28.1, 40.9, and 41.3% on the 15, 20, and 25th days after treatment, respectively (Fig. 1E, F and G). A significant larval mortality rate was observed in the control formulation with 10 or 15% oil on the 20 and 25th days after treatment (Fig. 1F and G). No larval mortality was observed in the control group treated with water.