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A laboratory study on the activity of Steinernema feltiae (Rhabditida: Steinernematidae) Rioja strain against horticultural insect pests

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Abstract

The potential of the entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema feltiae (Filipjev) (Rhabditida: Steinernematidae) Rioja strain was assessed under laboratory conditions. Last instar larvae of Leptinotarsa decemlineata Say (Coleptera: Chrysomelidae), Spodoptera littoralis Boisdouval (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and Trichoplusia ni Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) were exposed to infective juveniles (IJs) under laboratory conditions. Larval mortality, days to larval death, infection cycle length, and reproductive potential were recorded. Efficacy was assessed performing dose–response experiments. The results indicate that control of L. decemlineata with S. feltiae Rioja strain is not economically profitable (LC50 = 99.61 IJs/cm2), whereas results obtained for T. ni (LC50 = 0.27 IJs/cm2) are promising. Due to the life cycle of this insect, the efficacy needs to be investigated in foliar application studies. The effects on S. littoralis (LC50 = 0.69 IJs/cm2) was considered the most suitable for development of the Rioja strain as a biocontrol agent for soil application.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the editors and three anonymous reviewers for their suggestions and comments which strongly improved the earlier manuscript. We thank Dr. A. Fereres from Centro de Ciencias Medioambientales CSIC (Spain) for providing insect species T. ni, J. Jiménez for technical support, Dr. L. Barrios for statistical advise, and Dr. A. Piedra Buena for their comments and English correction of the manuscript. We thank J. Ochoa for the crop support in its field. This research was supported by Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (Grants: DGL–2005–07661/BOS), Unión de Agricultores y Ganaderos de La Rioja–Coordinadora de Agricultores y Ganaderos (UAGR–COAG) (Grant: 2001/2001250) and Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deportes (FPU predoctoral scholarship). This paper was based on selected data from Ph.D. thesis by R. Campos Herrera.

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  1. Departamento de Agroecología, Instituto de Ciencias Agrarias, Centro de Ciencias Medioambientales, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (ICA/CCMA/CSIC), Serrano 115 dpdo, 28006, Madrid, Spain

    Raquel Campos-Herrera & Carmen Gutiérrez

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  1. Raquel Campos-Herrera
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  2. Carmen Gutiérrez
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Correspondence to Carmen Gutiérrez.

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Communicated by R.-U. Ehlers.

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Campos-Herrera, R., Gutiérrez, C. A laboratory study on the activity of Steinernema feltiae (Rhabditida: Steinernematidae) Rioja strain against horticultural insect pests. J Pest Sci 82, 305–309 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-009-0247-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-009-0247-z

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