Abstract
Heterorhabditis sp SL0708 (Rhabditida: Heterorhabditidae) is a native entomopathogenic nematode from Alcala, Valle del Cauca (Colombia), a natural enemy of insects that can be used for controlling Plutella xylostella L, Conotrachelus psidii Marshall and Delia platura (Meigen); however its biological characterization is unknown. In order to know about the infective capacity of the isolate, tests were made with last instar larvae of Galleria mellonella (Lepidoptera: Pyrallidae) on penetration, one by one, exposure time, dose response and foraging strategy. The average infecting juveniles (IJ) entering larvae was 3 (1.5%). In the one-on-one test, larvae mortality ranged between 8.3 and 16.7%. There was no significant difference (p < 0.05) between treatments and in number of dead larvae in the exposure time and dose response assays. Heterorhabditis sp. SL0708 presented a cruiser foraging strategy, which indicates that it can be used for sessile or cryptic hosts.
Highlights
The most important entomopathogenic nematodes (EN) in biological pest control correspond to the Steinernematidae and Heterorhabditidae families, whose members are mutually associated with bacteria from the Xenorhabdus and Photorhabdus genera that cause septicemia and other types of lethal afflictions in their hosts (ADAMS et al, 2006)
The penetration measured the percentage of infecting juveniles (IJ) entering the host and it is determined by the location of the larvae on the substrate (GREWAL et al, 1994; KAYA et al, 1993), substrate temperature and texture (BERNAL et al, 1998; MUKUKA et al, 2009), the host to which the nematodes are exposed (BOFF et al, 2001; ROSA et al, 2002), time of exposure and capacity of IJs to enter via the insect’s mouth, anus, spiracles, or cuticle (SÁENZ; LÓPEZ, 2011)
SL0708 native nematode, the range of penetration is between 1 and 8 IJs, corresponding to that reported by Glazer and Lewis (2000) for Heterorhabditidae and to that established for this same host by Caroli et al (1996)
Summary
The most important entomopathogenic nematodes (EN) in biological pest control correspond to the Steinernematidae and Heterorhabditidae families, whose members are mutually associated with bacteria from the Xenorhabdus and Photorhabdus genera that cause septicemia and other types of lethal afflictions in their hosts (ADAMS et al, 2006). One or two generations are presented at the moment of emergence; the IJs abandon the cadaver and disperse controlling the insects in the area where they are (KAYA, 1990; SÁENZ, 2005). Other attributes of this promising group of biological controllers to manage insect pests is the high virulence and rapid action when killing the host; the IJ does not feed, it is morphologically and physiologically adapted to survive for long periods in the soil in the absence of its host. Infective Juveniles have high reproductive potential and show numerical response with respect to the host; they can be bred massively in the laboratory; have a broad range of action, some are not very specific; they have high resistance to chemicals and to adverse environmental conditions; EN like their bacteria are innocuous to human and domestic animals; they do not damage plants because they are specific to insects; some species can be reproduced without the presence of the male and are exempt from registration for commercialization in Europe and the United States (GAUGLER, 2002; SÁENZ; OLIVARES, 2008)
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