The identification of biological species in the genus Heterorhabditis (Nematoda: Heterorhabditidae) by cross-breeding second-generation amphimictic adults

Abstract

Entomopathogenic nematodes of the genus Heterorhabditis are morphologically conservative, consequently the majority of isolates remain unassigned at the species level. When a Heterorhabditis infective juvenile infects an insect host, it develops into a protandrous hermaphrodite female. These first-generation females give rise to a second generation which contains both males and females. Because of this complex life-cycle and also because of uncertainty as to whether second-generation females are amphimictic, cross-breeding studies to facilitate species determination have not been carried out previously. We demonstrate here that second-generation Heterorhabditis females are amphimictic. Because of this finding, we have been able to develop a successful cross-breeding technique for the purposes of species determination in Heterorhabditis. Interstrain crosses using second-generation males and females from the appropriate strains have been successfully set up in Xenorhabdus luminescens-treated G. mellonella cadavers and also on agar plates. Using the techniques described here we confirm that H. bacteriophora (Brecon strain), H. megidis and H. zealandica are distinct biological species, we note that the H. bacteriophora group contains at least 2 species and we provide evidence for the existence of a new Irish species of Heterorhabditis.