Advances in mass-production and formulation technology of entomopathogenic nematodes, the discovery of numerous isolates/ strains and the desirability of reducing pesticide usage have resulted in a surge of scientific and commercial interest in these nematodes. The lessons learned from earlier problems have encouraged scientists and leading commercial companies to increase their efforts toward ...

Animal-microbe symbioses are ubiquitous in nature and scientifically important in diverse areas, including ecology, medicine, and agriculture. Steinernema nematodes and Xenorhabdus bacteria compose an established, successful model system for investigating microbial pathogenesis and mutualism. The bacterium Xenorhabdus nematophila is a species-specific mutualist of insect-infecting Steinernema c...

Pathogenic effect of an indigenous entomopathogenic nematode, Heterorhabditis indica and commercial biopesticides of three fungal pathogens (M. anisopliae, B. bassiana and T. viride), one antagonistic bacteria (P. fluorescence), and two neem based biopesticides (Neem and Nimor) were tested on the Greater wax moth, Galleria mellonella larva under laboratory condition. The efficacy of the biopest...

Entomopathogenic nematodes were screened for eYcacy against the cottonwood borer, Plectrodera scalator (Fabricius). Steinernema feltiae SN and S. carpocapsae All killed 58 and 50% of larvae, respectively, in Wlter paper bioassays but less than 10% in diet cup bioassays. S. glaseri NJ, S. riobrave TX, and H. indica MG-13 killed less than 10% of larvae in both assays. H. marelata IN was ineVectiv...

Factorial treatments of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) and composted, manure mulches were evaluated for two years in a central Florida citrus orchard to study the post-application biology of EPN used to manage the root weevil, Diaprepes abbreviatus. Mulch treatments were applied once each year to study the effects of altering the community of EPN competitors (free-living bactivorous nematodes...

Nematodes and insects are the two dominant animal taxa in species numbers, and nematode-insect interactions constitute a significant portion of interspecies associations in a diversity of ecosystems. It has been speculated that most insects represent mobile microhabitats in which nematodes can obtain food, mobility, and shelter. Nematode-insect associations can be classified as phoretic (insect...

Cropping practice can affect pests and natural enemies. A three-year study of the strawberry tortricid, Acleris comariana (Lienig and Zeller) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), its parasitoid Copidosoma aretas Walker (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), and its entomopathogenic fungi was conducted in seven pairs of organic and conventional farms to test the hypothesis that farming practice (organic versus conve...

DNA sequence analysis was used to characterize the nuclear ribosomal DNA ITS1 region and a portion of the COII and 16S rDNA genes of the mitochondrial genome from Steinernema entomopathogenic nematodes. Nuclear ITS1 nucleotide divergence among seven Steinernema spp. ranged from 6 to 22%, and mtDNA divergence among five species ranged from 12 to 20%. No intraspecific variation was observed among...

Selection is recognized to operate on multiple levels. In disease organisms, selection among hosts is thought to provide an important counterbalance to selection for faster growth within hosts. We performed three experiments, each selecting for a divergence in group size in the entomopathogenic nematode, Steinernema carpocapsae. These nematodes infect and kill insect larvae, reproduce inside th...

BACKGROUND Dispersal is an important nematode behavior. Upon crowding or food depletion, the free living bacteriovorus nematode Caenorhabditis elegans produces stress resistant dispersal larvae, called dauer, which are analogous to second stage juveniles (J2) of plant parasitic Meloidogyne spp. and infective juveniles (IJ)s of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN), e.g., Steinernema feltiae. Regulat...