ABSTRACT
Major stimuli for increased interest in insect pest management (IPM) programs have been the development of resistance to insecticides in pest species, and a growing public concern over the environmental effects of toxic chemicals. Pathogenic microbial agents which normally do not exhibit "rapid kill" can be successful for either short-term or long-term control strategies of grasshoppers on rangeland. Microbial control agents can be divided into those used for short-term control, which commonly have some attributes similar to chemical insecticides, and those used for long-term control, which result in the establishment of the entomopathogen in a pest population and long-term regulatory activity. The chapter explores the status of microbial control agents of grasshoppers and evaluate entomopathogens of interest from the major groups of pathogenic microorganisms; that is, fungi, protozoa, rickettsia, viruses, and bacteria. In a survey for grasshopper entomopathogens the deuteromycetes and bacteria are the two pathogen groups that require the most emphasis.
