IMPACT OF SOIL TEXTURE ON THE INFECTIVITY OF DIFFERENT SPECIES OF ENTOMOPATHOGENIC NEMATODES AGAINST GREATER WAX MOTH (GALLERIA MELLONELLA L.)

Muhammad Raheel, Nazir Javed, Sajid A. Khan, Sohail Ahmad

Abstract


Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) are effective biological control agents against many soil-inhibiting insect pests. Different soil related factors have influence on the efficacy of these nematodes. The recent study was planned to evaluate the infectivity of four species of EPNs i.e. Heterorhabditis bacteriophora, H. indica, Steinernema feltiae and S. asiaticum in different soil textures (loamy sand, sandy loam and clay loam). The in vitro assessment of the infectivity was done by exposing last larval instar of Galleria mellonella to nematodes. The results revealed that the infectivity was the greatest in sandy loam soil (71.42%) followed by clay loam (54.75%), while it was the lowest in loamy sand (41.63%). Among all species examined, H. bacteriophora showed maximum infectivity (69.82%), followed by H. indica (52.36%), S. feltiae (52.36%) and S. asiaticum (49.19%) showing similar trends. 


Keywords


Galleria mellonella, Heterorhabditis bacteriophora, H. indica, infectivity, soil texture, Steinernema asiaticum, S. feltiae

Full Text:

PDF

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2016 Muhammad Raheel, Nazir Javed, Sajid A. Khan, Sohail Ahmad

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

      
   
Pakistan Journal of Phytopathology
ISSN: 1019-763X (Print), 2305-0284 (Online).
© 2013 Pak. J. Phytopathol. All rights reserved.