Modified bait insect technique in entomopathogens' survey from the arasbaran biosphere reserve (Iran) (1)

A survey on entomopathogens was carried out in Arasbaran Biosphere Reserve soils during June 2018 using Galleria mellonella L. (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae) larvae as bait insect with a modified bait insect technique. Three entomopathogen's categories were recorded in 34 out of 36 soil samples (94.4%) collected from different natural habitat; the entomopathogens were identified as nematodes (23.5%), fungi (61%) and bacteria (15.5%) using molecular and morphological techniques.