The impact of the nematode-parasitic fungus Hirsutella rhossiliensis on the effectiveness of Steinernema carpocapsae, S. glaseri, and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora against Galleria mellonella larvae was assessed in the laboratory. The presence of Hirsutella conidia on the third-stage (J3) cuticle of S. carpocapsae and H. bacteriophora interfered with infection of insect larvae. Conidia on the J...

Experiments were conducted to assess the effects of the entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema carpocapsae and Spodoptera exigua multinucleocapsid nuclear polyhedrosis virus (SeMNPV), alone and in combinations, on mortality of the beet armyworm, S. exigua, larvae on soybean. In 1991 tests, field-grown soybean plants were treated with S. carpocapsae at 0.3 and 0.6 nematodes/cm(2) of leaflet, SeMN...

Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) are small worms whose ecological behaviour consists to invade, kill insects and feed on their cadavers thanks to a species-specific symbiotic bacterium belonging to any of the genera Xenorhabdus or Photorhabdus hosted in the gastro-intestinal tract of EPNs. The symbiont provides a number of biological functions that are essential for its EPN host including the ...

The plum curculio, Conotrachelus nenuphar, is a major pest of pome and stone fruit. Our objective was to determine the ability of Steinernema feltiae and Steinernema riobrave to control C. nenuphar larvae in soil. Nematodes were applied at 100 infective juveniles/ cm in peach orchards at two locations (Byron, GA and Quincy, FL) in 2002 and 2003. Treatments were compared to an untreated control ...

We conducted a transcriptomic and small RNA analysis of infective juveniles (IJs) from three behaviourally distinct Steinernema species. Substantial variation was found in the expression shared gene orthologues, revealing signatures that correlate with behavioural states. Ninety-seven percent predicted microRNAs are novel to each Surprisingly, our data provide evidence new family non-coding tra...