Harnessing entomopathogenic fungi for sustainable insect pest control: Progress and challenges

Despite decades of research on entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) as biological control agents against insect pests their use in agricultural systems remains limited compared with conventional chemical pesticides. This review provides an overview of existing studies on EPF focusing on their biological characteristics and reported constraints affecting their application. The article summarizes current knowledge on the taxonomy, host range (including non-target organisms) infection mechanisms and environmental interactions of major EPF taxa, including Metarhizium spp., Hirsutella thompsonii, Lecanicillium spp., Beauveria bassiana and Isaria fumosorosea . General challenges related to environmental sensitivity, variability in field performance and application practices are discussed based on published studies. By synthesizing available literature, this review presents the current status of EPF-based biological control and highlights considerations relevant to their use as complementary, environmentally friendly tools in insect pest management.