A group of 30 healthy larvae of G. mellonella of approximately similar size was selected for each treatment.
Aspergillus strains (Table 1) were revived from silica gel preservation by growth on Aspergillus complete agar medium [22] at 30 ºC
Inocula were prepared by harvesting the spores in saline Tween 80 and
the spore number was adjusted.
Each larva was injected with 105 spores directly into the haemocoel through
the last pro-leg [23].
The spores of highly virulent strains were also injected after heating at 70 ºC for 45 min
(heat-killed spores).