Journal
BIOLOGICAL CONTROL
Volume 128, Issue -, Pages 102-110Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1016/j.biocontrol.2018.10.003
Keywords
Steinernema; Heterorhabditis; Xenorhabdus; Photorhabdus; Bulb mite; Bacterial metabolites; Onion; Garlic; Biological control
Categories
Funding
- Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic in the programme Czech-Israeli Cooperative Scientific Research [8G15006]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Bulb mites of the genus Rhizoglyphus are cosmopolitan pests of onion, garlic and ornamental plants. Despite the growing awareness against the use of pesticides, growers continue to use insecticides as the main control method. Thus, the search for environmentally safe alternative control methods, such as effective biocontrol agents, is of paramount importance. In the present study, the bulb mites were exposed to the infected juveniles of 20 strains of Steinernema and Heterorhabditis species applied at a single dose of 300 IJs per mite, and the invasion rate and mite mortality were assessed. Furthermore, the effect of the culture supernatants of the selected symbiotic bacteria of the genus Xenorhabdus on bulb mite mortality was tested. Our data show that both Steinernema and Heterorhabditis nematodes are able to invade and kill bulb mites, but in general, the invasion and resulting mortality were relatively low. The highest invasion rate of ca 30 IJs per mite was observed in Heterorhabditis taysearae. The mortality reached the maximum of 30% in the most efficient species, namely Steinernema huense, H. bacteriophora and H. amazonensis. The effect of the culture supernatants was generally low, though there were considerable differences in the efficacy among Xenorhabdus species and strains. To conclude we demonstrate that some EPN species are able to invade and kill bulb mites but their effect is in general quite low. Based on present data, EPNs and the metabolites of their symbiotic bacteria do not seem to represent a viable option for bulb mite biocontrol as a standalone approach.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available