Relationship Between the Size of Galleria mellonella Larvae and the Production of Steinernema feltiae and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora
Relationship Between the Size of Galleria mellonella Larvae and the Production of Steinernema feltiae and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora
Ali Murad Rahoo1, Tariq Mukhtar2,*, Barkat Ali Bughio3 and Rehana Kanwal Rahoo4
ABSTRACT
The fitness of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) as biological control agents of specific target insects depends on their level of infectivity and reproductive capacity. Nematodes with higher levels of infectivity and reproduction within a specific target host may be more effective in controlling a particular insect under field conditions. The production of infective juveniles (IJ) from Galleria mellonella cadavers may differ among different species of EPN and hosts of various sizes. Therefore, the objective of conducting the present study was to compare the productivity of two EPN (Steinernema feltiae and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora) in G. mellonella larvae of different sizes. The size of G. mellonella had significant effect on the emergence of IJ. Significantly greater numbers of IJ both of H. bacteriophora and S. feltiae emerged from large sized G. mellonella than medium and small sized and the emergence was found to be positively correlated with the size of the host. It was also observed that emergence of IJ of H. bacteriophora was significantly greater than that of S. feltiae from the three different sized G. mellonella. The emergence of IJ started from the 4th day and continued till the 37th day. The maximum numbers of IJ were recorded on the 13th day in case of small and medium sized G. mellonella larvae while the maximum number of IJ from large sized G. mellonella was observed on the 10th day.
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February 2019
Vol. 51, Iss. 1, Pages 1-398
