Emphasis on biological alternatives to pesticides has increased in agriculture due to concern about environmental pollution. Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) are used as biological control agents for soil dwelling insects with varying success. Some grub species, for example, have been shown to vary in susceptibility to EPNs. We hypothesized that differences in the evasive behaviors of grub species at least partially account for variation in the susceptibility of grubs to nematodes. In this study, we evaluated the evasive behavior of Rhizotrogus majalis, Popillia japonica, Maladera castanea, Exomala orientalis, Phyllophaga spp., and Macrodactylus subspinosus against Steinernema glaseri and Heterorhabditis zealandica in glass chambers containing field soil. Grub movement was tracked after the inoculation of 2000 infective juveniles in close proximity to the grub for 2 hours. Water was inoculated as a control treatment. Distance traveled per 20-min increment, total distance traveled in 2 hours, and percent grub mortality, was quantified for each treatment. Third instar R. majalis exposed to S. glaseri moved further away from the inoculation points in 2 hours (mean distance=43mm) than those exposed to water (mean distance=32mm). This experiment will be repeated and detailed results will be presented.
Species 1: Coleoptera Scarabaeidae Rhizotrogus majalis (European chafer)
Species 2: Coleoptera Scarabaeidae Popillia japonica (Japanese beetle)
Species 3: Rhabditida Heterorhabditidae Heterorhabditis zealandica
Keywords: resistance
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