The entomogenous nematode species Heterorhabditis heliothidis (Kahn, Brooks, and Hirschmann), H. bacteriophora Poinar, Neoaplectana carpocapsae Weiser, and N. glaseri Steiner are promising biological control agents for a broad range of soil-inhabiting insect species (6). Many factors in soil affect nematode survival, movement, and infectivity: Moisture is probably the most important physical fa...

In April 2008, 120 soil samples from 24 locations were collected in Gorenjska, Notranjska and Primorska regions as well as in Ljubljansko barje. The presence of entomopathogenic nematodes was confirmed in 9 samples from 6 locations. Only the sample C101, which was taken in the village Svino in the area of Breginjski kot (western part of Slovenia, the vicinity of Italian border), was sent to gen...

Previous studies have indicated that between 60 and 80% of a population of entomopathogenic nematodes do not infect their insect hosts at any one period in time. Two hypotheses explain this behaviour: the first that there is a subpopulation of non-infectious nematodes and the second that the non-infectious group is created by inhibitory cues derived from infected insects. Through an experimenta...

The effectiveness of Canadian isolate 76 of Steinernema kraussei, at 10 degrees C, in penetrating Galleria mellonella larvae (percentage parasitism and number of IJs developed to adult nematodes) was measured at different host densities (differing number of larvae and size of experimental arena) and for different durations of exposure. The greater the size of the inoculum of infective juvenile ...

Entomopathogenic nematodes (a.k.a. EPN) represent a group of soil-inhabiting nematodes that parasitize a wide range of insects. These nematodes belong to two families: Steinernematidae and Heterorhabditidae. Until now, more than 70 species have been described in the Steinernematidae and there are about 20 species in the Heterorhabditidae. The nematodes have a mutualistic partnership with Entero...

A new steinernematid nematode, herein described as Steinernema poinari sp. n., was recovered by baiting soil samples with the last instar wax moth larvae Galleria mellonella in three localities of southwest Bohemia, Czech Republic. Morphological and molecular data confirmed this nematode as a new species which belongs to the affine/intermedium group. S. poinari sp. n. was characterized by male,...

A wide range of micro-organisms, including yeasts, was found to be inhibited by the primary form of Xenorhabdus spp., but not by the secondary form. Only one Xenorhabdus strain, the symbiont of Neoaplectana glaseri, did not inhibit any of the micro-organisms tested; it is suggested that this strain may not have been isolated in the primary form. Gram-positive bacteria were sensitive to all acti...

The study investigates the effect of temperature on the infectivity of two entomopathogenic nematodes, viz. Steinernema sp. and Heterorhabditis indica, locally isolated from Mizoram, northeastern India, using last instar larvae of greater wax moth, Galleria mellonella, as an insect host. Two hundred infective juveniles/larva of wax moth were exposed to different temperatures, viz. 10, 15, 20, 2...

Stored-product commodities are attacked by numerous insect species. The adulticidal effects of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) on grains remain uninvestigated. Thus, in the current study, seven doses EPNs Heterorhabditis bacteriophora Poinar (Rhabditida: Heterorhabditidae), Steinernema carpocapsae (Weiser) Steinernematidae), and feltiae (Filipjev) Steinernematidae) were inoculated wheat kerne...