Compost as a carrier medium for entomopathogenic nematodes - the influence of compost maturity on their virulence and survival

Publication date: Available online 21 June 2018 Source:Biological Control Author(s): Gisèle L. Herren, Isabelle Binnemans, Lisa Joos, Nicole Viaene, Ralf-Udo Ehlers, Bart Vandecasteele, Wim Bert, Hanne Steel The effectiveness of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) against pest insects is largely dependent on the method of application and nematode survival under field conditions. Nematodes must persist long enough to control pest populations, despite sensitivity to abiotic factors such as desiccation and UV light. Here we investigate the use of compost as a carrier medium for the entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema feltiae, since co-application with compost could potentially mitigate some of the negative environmental constraints of EPN application. We tested three application methods in combination with six composts of different biological maturity (defined using the Nematode Index of Compost Maturity (NICM). EPN in composts were applied to a soil and incubated in 1L pots for 12 weeks. The application methods used were aqueous application (AA), non-formulated infected host cadavers (NFC) and formulated infected host cadavers (FC). Destructive sampling was used at 4, 6, 9 and 12 weeks to test for entomopathogenic nematode survival (via extraction and enumerations) and nematode virulence based on Galleria mellonella mortality. After 12 weeks of incubation, survival ranged from 3.2% in control pots with AA, to 62% found in a mature compost applied with formulated cadav...
Source: Biological Control - Category: Biology Source Type: research