Onion maggot (Delia antiqua) is a prominent pest of allium crops in temperate zones worldwide. Management this relies on prophylactic insecticide applications at planting that target the first generation. Because effective options are limited, growers interested novel tactics such as deployment entomopathogenic nematodes. We surveyed muck soils where onions typically grown to determine if nemat...

A first survey of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) was conducted in three agro-ecological zones of Southern Cameroon in 2007 and 2008. Entomopathogenic nematodes were recovered from 26 of 251 soil samples (10.4%). Three species, Heterorhabditis baujardi, Steinernema sp. A and Steinernema sp. B were found. The two steinernematids were considered unidentified species. Among the positive samples, ...

Entomopathogenic nematodes can provide effective biological control of several important soil insect pests that occur in cryptic habitats (Georgis and Manweiler, 1994; Koppenhofer, 2000). Favorable characteristics include formation of a durable infective stage that can be stored for long periods and applied by conventional methods, and persistence in the environment following application. In ad...

Guidelines are suggested to implement the introduction of beneficial insect-parasitic nematodes into the United States from abroad. These suggestions result from experiences and research with these and other biological control agents and from the current need for procedures to import nematodes. Subjects considered are need to import, foreign exploration, taxonomy, shipment, quarantine facilitie...

Greenhouse nursery production represents a large and growing industry. In recent years there has been a shift both toward the use of soilless media and integrated pest management. Application of entomopathogens such as nematodes, fungi, and bacteria against soil-dwelling insect pests is a sustainable alternative to insecticide centered control programs. Soilless media (peat, coir, or bark-based...

Drosophila suzukii populations remain low in the UK. To date, there have been no reports of widespread damage. Previous research demonstrated that various species of entomopathogenic fungi and nematodes could potentially suppress D. suzukii population development under laboratory trials. However, none of the given species was concluded to be specifically efficient in suppressing D. suzukii. The...

There is currently a great deal of concern about population declines in pollinating insects. Many potential threats have been identified which may adversely affect the behaviour and health of both honey bees and bumble bees: these include pesticide exposure, and parasites and pathogens. Whether biological pest control agents adversely affect bees has been much less well studied: it is generally...

Clonostachys rosea (Link: Fries) Schroers, Samuels, Seifert, and Gams (Ascomycota: Hypocreales) has been reported as a mycoparasite of fungi and nematodes and as saprobe in soils, but this fungus has not been reported previously to be entomopathogenic. Many species of cicadellid leafhoppers cause economic damage to crops as vectors of plant pathogens. In the present work, we report the first re...