A Bt primer can be found at the below address.

Readers digest condensed answer from the  Virginia Cooperative
Extension !

"...Insecticidal products composed of a single Bacillus species or
subspecies may be active against an entire order of insects, or they
may be effective against only one or a few species. For example,
products containing Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki kill the
caterpillar stage of a wide array of butterflies and moths. In
contrast, Bacillus popilliae var. popilliae (milky disease) kills
Japanese beetle larvae but is not effective against the closely
related annual white grubs (masked chafers)..."

for the complete article see:
http://filebox.vt.edu/cals/cses/chagedor/btprimer.html

Bt is actively being targeted by genetic engineers to develop
"designer Bt" to suit  the needs of a particular market niche.
Strain selection & manipulation of existing lines can increase the
duration products remain on the market before insect pests become
resistant.  That said!

There are many  species specific strains of BT targeting beetles.
These targeted insecticides have the advantage of not adversely
affecting Non-Target beneficial insects found in the spray area.  So
rather than having a "Dead Zone" those insects of little concern
(other than by us bug huggers) are spared following elimination of
the target species.  We all know that some products are better than
others but that is a story for another time.  There are Bt products
available for the control other beetles for example-Colorado Potato
Beetle, cucumber beetle etc--many crop insects. There are probably Bt
products available for stored grain and the control of grain
beetles.  I do not know of any products for sap beetles or SHB.  If
your interested in what is available get a hold of Cornell
recommendations, (your states Extension recommendations, Farm
Chemical Handbook or an online search of chemical products.

BT is being utilized in so many areas it will not be long before
widespread insect resistance will become evident as in any over used
product.  The big chemical companies know this & are preparing the
next  generation products as I write this.

I would rather see a researcher pick up on the use of some
entomopathogenic fungi like  Beauveria bassiana (Bb) which is an
omnipresent soil pathogen that affects many insects that pupate in
the ground like SHB.   To date there are no reports of resistance to
any of the commercially available Mycoinsecticidal products
(insecticides made from insect fungal pathogens)

I will briefly talk about Bb and Metarhizium anisopliae (Ma) while
talking about fungal pathogens of insects to the Empire State Honey
Producers  at the Fall meeting in Syracuse, NY in December.

See:

http://eshpa.org/Fall%20agenda_1.htm




Mike Griggs
Entomologist/ Support Scientist
Plant Protection Research Unit
USDA ARS, U.S. Plant, Soil & Nutrition Lab.
Tower Road, Ithaca, NY  14853
http://www.ppru.cornell.edu/PPRU.htm

phone:  607-255-1085
fax:        607-255-1132
email:    [log in to unmask]

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