Thirty-eight strains of the entomopathogenic Beauveria
bassiana, isolated from diverse species of Lepidoptera
(Pyralidae) or Coleoptera (Curculionidae, Chrysomelidae, and
Scolytidae) from various geographical sites, were examined by RFLP and
RAPD analyses. Similar groupings were recovered from both approaches
and these showed clear relationships between the population structure
of B. bassiana and some defined host species. Strains
isolated from members of the Pyralidae were recovered as two main
groups, one group consisted of all strains isolated from
Ostrinia irrespective of their origin. The second group
consisted primarily of strains isolated from Diatraea in
Cuba. All strains isolated from the curculionid genus Sitona
clustered as a single distinct group, separated from strains from
other curculionids. In contrast, strains isolated from the pyralid
genus Maliarpha, and the coleopteran Chrysomelidae, gave
heterogenous patterns and were not recovered as distinct groups.
Groups from cluster analysis and non-hierarchic ordination methods
were compared and the relative merits of the different grouping
strategies are discussed.