Technical Abstract: Three strains of Metarhizium anisopliae, F52, TM109, and Ma1200, were evaluated for growth and propagule formation in shake flask studies using media with varying carbon concentrations and carbon-to-nitrogen ratios. Under the conditions of this study, all strains produced blastospores and microsclerotia, a pigmented, compact hyphal aggregate. The formation of a microsclerotium, an overwintering structure produced by many plant pathogenic fungi, is novel for entomopathogens, including M. anisopliae. The three strains of M. anisopliae tested produced similar biomass concentrations when media and growth time were compared. Strain Ma1200 produced significantly higher concentrations of blastospores when compared to the other two strains of M. anisopliae with highest blastospore concentrations (1.6 and 4.2 x 108 blastospores ml-1 on days 4 and 8, respectively) produced in media with the highest carbon and nitrogen concentrations. While all strains formed desiccation tolerant microsclerotia, highest concentrations were produced by strain F52 in carbon-rich media. Microsclerotial preparations of M. anisopliae survived drying (less than 5% moisture) with no significant loss in viability. Rehydration and incubation of air-dried microsclerotia on water agar plates resulted in hyphal and sporogenic germination to produced high concentrations of conidia. Bioassays with the sugarbeet root maggot, Tetanops myopaeformis, where dried microsclerotial preparations of M. anisopliae strain F52 were incorporated into soil, showed significant efficacy in controlling the insect even in drier soils. Microsclerotial preparations of M. anisopliae F52 showed superior efficacy against the sugarbeet root maggot were compared to conventional conidia-containing corn grit granules. This is the first report of the production of sclerotial bodies by an entomopathogen and provides a novel approach to the control of soil-dwelling insects with M. anisopliae.