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Capsules containing entomopathogenic nematodes as a Trojan horse approach to control the western corn rootworm

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Abstract

Aims

The use of entomopathogenic nematodes in the biological control of soil insect pests is hampered by the costly and inadequate application techniques. As a possible solution we evaluated a nematode encapsulation approach that offers effective application and may possibly attract the pest by adding attractants to the capsule shell.

Methods

Heterorhabditis bacteriophora nematodes, which show high virulence against the maize root pest Diabrotica virgifera virgifera, were encapsulated in a polysaccharide shell derived from the algae Laminaria ssp. Shells of varying thickness and composition were evaluated.

Results

Nematodes readily survived the encapsulation process and were able, varying with shell thickness and temperature, to break through the shell and subsequently infect hosts. The added attractants and feeding stimulants to the shell attracted the pest larvae as much as maize roots. In field trials, encapsulated H. bacteriophora nematodes were more effective in controlling D. v. virgifera than those sprayed in water over the soil surface, but in these trials the addition of stimulants did not increase the control efficiency.

Conclusions

The study demonstrates that nematodes can be successfully applied in capsules in the field. Further improvements are needed to make the capsules a cost effective alternative to conventional field application of nematodes.

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Acknowledgments

We thank all the members of the FARCE lab at the University of Neuchâtel, in particular Gregory Roeder and Christophe Praz for their support and stimulating discussions and Matthias Held for his valuable advice in statistical analyses. We would like to thank the U.S. Department of Agriculture field crew in Columbia, MO, USA, for their help in the field. H. bacteriopohora were kindly provided by LANDI-Reba AG (R. Burger, Basel, Switzerland) and Becker Underwood (J. Graesh, Ames, IA, USA). The work was supported by a Swiss economic stimulus grant awarded to the National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) Plant Survival.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fundamental and Applied Research in Chemical Ecology (FARCE) laboratory, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland

    Ivan Hiltpold & Ted C. J. Turlings

  2. 205 Curtis Hall, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, 65211-7020, USA

    Ivan Hiltpold

  3. USDA-ARS, 205 Curtis Hall, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, 65211-7020, USA

    Bruce E. Hibbard

  4. USDA-ARS, 2923 Medary Avenue, Brookings, SD, 57006, USA

    B. Wade French

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  1. Ivan Hiltpold
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  2. Bruce E. Hibbard
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  3. B. Wade French
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  4. Ted C. J. Turlings
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Correspondence to Ted C. J. Turlings.

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Hiltpold, I., Hibbard, B.E., French, B.W. et al. Capsules containing entomopathogenic nematodes as a Trojan horse approach to control the western corn rootworm. Plant Soil 358, 11–25 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-012-1253-0

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