In 125 years since Metchnikoff proposed the use of Metarhizium anisopliae to control the wheat cockchafer and brought about the first field trials, microbial control has progressed from the application of naturalists' observations to biotechnology and precision delivery. This review highlights major milestones in its evolution and presents a perspective on its current direction. Fungal pathogen...

The effects of different application technologies were evaluated on the concentration, viability, and effi ciency of infective juveniles of the nematodes Heterorhabditis indica Poinar, Karunakar & David and Steinernema sp. (IBCB-n6) to control Spodoptera frugiperda Smith on corn plants. Two hundred and eighty infective juveniles of Steinernema sp. were required to kill 100% third-instar fall ar...

The ability of Steinernema feltiae or Heterorhabditis bacteriophora infective juveniles (IJ), when applied to the soil surface, to infect a Galleria mellonella larva at the base of a soil-filled cup (276 cm(3)) was evaluated in the presence and absence of 100 larvae of a non-target insect, the aphid midge Aphidoletes aphidimyza, near the soil surface. In all four trials with either S. feltiae o...

A series of laboratory and greenhouse experiments evaluated the entomopathogenic nematodes Steinernema scarabaei Stock & Koppenhöfer, Heterorhabditis bacteriophora Poinar, and H. zealandica Poinar for control of secondand thirdinstar cranberry white grub, Phyllophaga georgiana Horn (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), in cranberries. Steinernema scarabaei was the most effective species with 76 100% cont...

The nematode Steinernema carpocapsae (All) strain was significantly more effective against peachtree borer larvae (Synanthedon exitiosa [Lepidoptera: Sesiidae]) than Steinernema riobrave (7-12) strain in field and laboratory experiments. Eighty-eight percent control of peachtree borer larvae was obtained with S. carpocapsae in the field trial when applied at 3 x 10(5) infective juveniles per tr...

A new species of entomopathogenic nematode, herein described as Steinernema akhursti sp. n., was recovered from soil samples collected from Yunnan Province, the People's Republic of China. Both morphological and molecular data show congruently that S. akhursti sp. n. belongs to the Steinernema feltiae group. It can be separated from all described Steinernema species by the combined morphologica...

Use of entomopathogenic nematodes against foliage pests is commonly perceived to be limited by their tolerance to temperature, desiccation and UV radiation. The effect of these abiotic factors on the infective juveniles (ijs) of two isolates of Steinernema spp. (SSL85), two isolates of Steinernema spp. (M87), Heterorhabditis n.sp. and H. indicus recovered from selected sites within Peninsular M...

A survey was done in the summer months along the Alaska Highway, in other parts of British Columbia, in northern Alberta, and in the Yukon Territory for steinernematid and heterorhabditid nematodes occurring in the top 10 cm of soil. Steinernema feltiae and Steinernema spp. were found at 18 and Heterorhabditis megidis at 7 sites of 125 sampled. Most nematodes were found where visible insect inf...

Adhesive conidia of the nematophagous fungus, Drechmeria coniospora (Drechsler) W. Gams and Jansson (Moniliales: Deuteromycetes), would occasionally attach but never penetrate the infective stages of insect parasitic Neoaplectana carpocapsae, N. glaseri, N. bibionis, N. intermedia, and Heterorhabditis helfothidis (Rhabditida). However, adult and pre-infective stages of Neoaplectana spp. became ...

Biological characteristics of two strains of the entomopathogenic nematode, Heterorhabditis floridensis (332 isolated in Florida and K22 isolated in Georgia) were described. The identity of the nematode's symbiotic bacteria was elucidated and found to be Photorhabdus luminescens subsp. luminescens. Beneficial traits pertinent to biocontrol (environmental tolerance and virulence) were characteri...