Susceptibility of the Lesser Peachtree Borer (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae) to Entomopathogenic Nematodes Under Laboratory Conditions

Abstract

Abstract The lesser peachtree borer, Synanthedon pictipes (Grote and Robinson), is an important pest of Prunus spp. We determined the susceptibility of S. pictipes to six entomopathogenic nematode species: Heterorhabditis bacteriophora Poinar, H. indica Poinar, Karunakar and David, H. marelatus Liu and Berry, Steinernema carpocapsae (Weiser), S. feltiae (Filipjev), and S. riobrave Cabanillas, Poinar and Raulston. Nematode virulence in S. pictipes was compared with virulence in two known susceptible hosts, Galleria mellonella L. and Tenebrio molitor L. In S. pictipes, the steinernematids were more virulent than the heterorhabditids, the virulence of S. carpocapsae was greater than S. riobrave, with S. feltiae being intermediate between the two, and no differences in virulence were detected among the heterorhabditids. Each nematode exhibited similar or greater virulence to S. pictipes than to T. molitor, and the steinernematids’ virulence to S. pictipes was greater or similar to H. bacteriophora or H. marel...