Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata (1998) 86, 1-11

J.F. Campbell, G. Orza, F. Yoder, E. Lewis and R. Gaugler (1998)
Spatial and temperal distribution of endemic and released entomopathogenic nematode populations in turfgrass
Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 86 (1), 1-11
Abstract: Entomopathogenic nematodes (Rhabdita: Heterorhabditidae and Steinernematidae) have been effective as inundative biological control agents of scarab larvae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in turfgrass. Entomopathogenic nematodes also occur naturally in turfgrass and endemic or inoculated populations may be able to provide effective long-term control. Variation in Heterorhabditis bacteriophora and Steinernema carpocapsae spatial and temporal distribution along transects placed at different turfgrass sites in central New Jersey, USA, was investigated. H. bacteriophora tended to be recovered from fewer sections in a transect than S. carpocapsae, but the two species, overall, did not differ in patchiness of distribution. In one transect with a H. bacteriophora population S. feltiae was also recovered, but the two populations seldom overlapped spatially. In transects with adequate scarab larvae density for analysis, H. bacteriophora density and Popillia japonica larvae density were inversely correlated. This suggests that endemic H. bacteriophora populations may suppress P. japonica populations. In one transect, an epizootic of H. bacteriophora in an undetermined host may have occurred. Edaphic factors were relatively uniform along transects and were, at most, weakly correlated with nematode recovery. Uniform inoculative releases of H. bacteriophora tended to return to patterns of distribution typical of endemic populations.
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Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Edwin E. Lewis, James F. Campbell

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
surveys/sampling/distribution
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
environment/habitat manipulation
transmission/dispersal

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Popillia japonica	Grasses/turf/rangeland	U.S.A. (NE)
Steinernema carpocapsae/Xenorhabdus nematophila (entomopathogen)	Popillia japonica	Grasses/turf/rangeland	U.S.A. (NE)
Heterorhabditis bacteriophora/Photorhabdus (entomopathogen)	Popillia japonica	Grasses/turf/rangeland	U.S.A. (NE)