COLD TOLERANCE AND PRECONDITIONING OF INFECTIVE JUVENILES OF STEINERNEMA-KUSHIDAI (NEMATODA, STEINERNEMATIDAE)

Steinernema kushidai infective juveniles (IJs), that had been placed o nto soil and stored at 5 degrees C after recovery from artificial cult ure, did not survive well, with over 90% dying within 10 days. When th e IJs were preconditioned at 10 degrees C for over 8 days, a survival rate of over 50% was seen 100 days after storage at 5 degrees C. This preconditioning at 10 degrees C could also be carried out on IJs suspe nded in distilled water. Trehalose concentration in the IJs increased from almost undetectable levels to 1.4% of the dry weight when S. kush idai IJs in distilled water were preconditioned at 10 degrees C for 20 days.