Journal of Pest Science (2010) 83, 257-264
Stefan Toepfer, Benedikt Kurtz and Ulrich Kuhlmann (2010)
Influence of soil on the efficacy of entomopathogenic nematodes in reducing Diabrotica virgifera virgifera in maize
Journal of Pest Science 83 (3), 257-264
Abstract: The use of entomopathogenic nematodes is one potential non-chemical approach to control the larvae of the invasive western corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte, Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) in Europe. This study investigated the efficacy of Heterorhabditis bacteriophora Poinar (Rhabditida: Heterorhabditidae), Heterorhabditis megidis Poinar, Jackson and Klein (Rh., Heterorhabditidae) and Steinernema feltiae Filipjev (Rh., Steinernematidae) in reducing D. v. virgifera as a function of soil characteristics. A field experiment was repeated four times in southern Hungary using artificially infested maize plants potted into three different soils. Sleeve gauze cages were used to assess the number of emerging adult D. v. virgifera from the treatments and untreated controls. Results indicate that nematodes have the potential to reduce D. v. virgifera larvae in most soils; however, their efficacy can be higher in maize fields with heavy clay or silty clay soils than in sandy soils, which is in contrast to the common assumption that nematodes perform better in sandy soils than in heavy soils.
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Database assignments for author(s): Stefan Toepfer, Ulrich Kuhlmann
Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
environment/habitat manipulation
