ANATIS BIOPROTECTION – Beauveria Bassiana against the Pests in Your Crops

Date:03-16-2022

Anatis Bioprotection is a well-established Canadian company that produces, sells, and distributes beneficial insects, predatory mites, entomopathogenic nematodes and biopesticides for over 15 years. Over the years, Anatis has increased the number of insect and mite produced at our facility. We are proud to say we rear 10 species on our own. Our Trichogramma are the best known of them all. These tiny wasps are used in sweet corn, garlic, leak, onion, peppers and more, to control several species of pest moths. We are more than our products; we also provide expert service to our clients.

With the success of our clients at heart, Anatis schedules visits to client facilities to better assess their needs. As a service, we create or revise existing Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs for our clients. With the knowledge and products provided by Anatis, our customers can predict their season and intervene in the event of an infestation in their crop. We also assist with pest and disease identification when needed. 

The inside of a Trichogramma capsule

In the last few years, we performed different tests with Trichogramma in Corn and Cranberry fields. Now, we can offer Canadian producers the new Trichogramma capsules application by drone. Anatis Bioprotection has a Research and development facilities in Quebec, Canada. Here, we develop bioinsectides based on the strain ANT-03 of the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana. This strain was isolated from a Lygus bug in the province of Quebec, Canada. After more than 30 years of laboratory studies and field tests, it was found to be highly pathogenic against target insect pests, and non harmful to bees, ladybugs, and other beneficial insects and mites.

Beauveria bassiana 

Beauveria bassiana is a World Wide soil microorganism that can penetrate and spread through many different insect species. Once, the spore on the insect’s cuticle (the insect’s external “skin”), it starts to produce enzymes, penetrates in the body, and develops inside till killing the insect or the mite. It’s a real challenge to select a highly pathogenic and, at the same time, a selective strain with a good prolific capacity and a long shelf-life ability.

Beauveria bassiana fungus	Mealworm mummified by Beauveria bassiana

Anatis Bioprotection created and registered different formulations for use in the Greenhouses, fields and now domestic use in Canada and the USA, under the trademark BioCeres and BioTitan. Both formulations come in wettable powder, emulsified concentrate, granular, and briquettes. Our products are highly efficient against whiteflies, thrips, aphids, white grubs, spider mites and different bugs, weevils and beetles. BioTitan is the first mycological bioinsecticide registered for outdoor use in Canada. It has proven to be effective against Colorado potato beetle and Tarnished plant bug in berries, and Chinch bug and white grubs in turfgrass. Our innovative biopesticides are formulated with excipients that are biodegradable and are nonphytotoxic. BioCeres and BioTitan are both certified organic and would make an excellent addition to any IPM program. 

BioCeres and BioTitan are contact insecticides. The spores adhere to the cuticle (skin) of insects and subsequently infect them and cause death.

The future of our company

Anatis is proud of its strong scientific team. We are working on new ways to use our products in collaboration with different Universities and Research Institutes, for example application in poultry against the Darkling beetle, control of Bed bugs, Pine beetles and more. The team is working on the development of a new product, based on a different entomopathogenic fungus, Tolypocladium cylindrosporum, which has a great potential against Dipteran species. 

Anatis is always in the search of ways to improve. We just upgraded our facilities, allowing us to have more space to develop new beneficials species and new microbiological bioinsecticides. In the next few years, we are looking to expand our markets into Europe and different countries in Central and South America.

Choosing Anatis Bioprotection is helping the planet.

Anatis Bioprotection’s newly renovated office

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This article was initially published in AgroPages' 'Annual Review 2021' magazine.