The litter beetle, Alphitobius diaperinus (Panzer), is the most important insect pest of poultry, both as a nuisance and as a vector of disease. Before this research, only three strains of Steinernema carpocapsae (Weiser) (All, Breton, and Mexican) and S. glaseri had been tested against litter beetle larvae and adults. In this study, the virulence of the following three species and 11 strains of Steinernema towards adult litter beetle was tested: S. carpocapsae (Pye, UK, Kapow, Mexican, and Agristos strains, S. feltiae (Filipjev) (SN, SD1, SD7, SD34W, and Umea), and S. scapterisci Nguyen & Smart. Significant difference in virulence was detected among nematode species and strains. Nematode-induced mortality was not significantly greater than control mortality (in any of the experiments conducted) for only S. feltiae (Umea). All other nematodes caused greater mortality than the control in at least one experiment. Of the four most promising nematodes S. carpocapsae (Pye and Mexican), and S. feltiae (SN and SD34W) LC50 values ranged from 2.8 to 61.8 nematodes per host in the filter paper assays. Assays in poultry litter material for revealed LC50 values to be 5.8 and 14.6 nematodes per host for the Mexican and Pye S. carpocapsae strains respectively. Our results suggest that Steinernema carpocapsae Mexican and Pye strains has the greatest potential for control of A. diaperinus in the poultry environment.
Species 1: Rhabditida Steinernematidae Steinernema
Species 2: Coleoptera Tenebrionidae Alphitobius diaperinus (litter beetle, lesser mealworm)
Keywords: biological control, entomopathogenic nematodes
Back to Display Presentations, Section D. Medical and Veterinary Entomology
Back to Posters
Back to The 2002 ESA Annual Meeting and Exhibition