Efficiency of an attract-and-kill system with entomopathogenic nematodes against wireworms (Coleoptera: Elateridae)

Trabajo presentado en el 52nd Annual Meeting of the Society for Invertebrate Pathology y 17th Meeting of the IOBC‐WPRS Working Group “Microbial and Nematode Control of Invertebrate Pests”, celebrado en Valencia (España), del 28 de julio al 1 de agosto de 2019This study aimed at contributing to the development of an attract-and-kill strategy combining plant natural extracts with entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs). We first compared the efficiency of two EPN strains through classical screening laboratory assays (contact application of EPNs) and found 8.3 and 16.7% of mortality after 10 days for Steinernema carpocapsae B14 and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora, respectively. Then, we encapsulated EPNs with potato extracts (acting as attractant and feeding stimulant) in alginate beads and the results showed higher mortality rates: 16.7% and 41.7% for S. carpocapsae and H. bacteriophora, respectively. In absence of attractants in the beads, the mortality dropped to 0% (S. carpocapsae) and 8.3% (H. bacteriophora). We conclude that the ingestion of EPN lead to increased mortality, compared to contact application of EPNs. The association of volatiles organic compounds as attractants and EPNs as biological agents represent a promising alternative to pesticides that remains to be evaluated in the field.D. la Forgia is supported by a PhD grant from Coordinated Integrated Pest Management in Europe (C-IPM), project ElatPro and a FNRS mobility grant. R. Campos-Herrera is awarded with a Ramón y Cajal contract (RYC-2016-19939