Susceptibility of different pests to infection of entomogenous nematodes

Abstract

Entomopathogenic nematodes in the families Heterorhabditidae and steinernematidae are used world wide in the biological control of insects e.g. Scarabaeid and noctuid pests. Recently, novel isolates of entomopathogenic nematodes have been obtained from different regions in Egypt. Some of these isolates are tolerant to both temperatures and desiccation extremes. Susceptibility of peach beetle Pachnoda fasciata, the hairy beetle Tropinota squalida and/or the sugar-cane beetle Pentoden bispinosus to four Egyptian isolates of Heterorhabditis spp. with the code names: EBNU3, EGBl, EIS7 and ESSl as well as three imported nematodes steinernema carpocapsae, Steinernema glaseri and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora was carefully studied.

Survival and vertical movement of the most virulent nematodes against the scarabaeid pests were also studied. The results could be summarized as follows: