USE OF ENTOMOPATHOGENIC NEMATODES AND A NEW MONITORING TECHNIQUE FOR CONTROL OF FUNGUS GNATS, BRADYSIA-COPROPHILA (DIPTERA, SCIARIDAE), IN FLORICULTURE
Ma. Harris et al., USE OF ENTOMOPATHOGENIC NEMATODES AND A NEW MONITORING TECHNIQUE FOR CONTROL OF FUNGUS GNATS, BRADYSIA-COPROPHILA (DIPTERA, SCIARIDAE), IN FLORICULTURE, Biological control, 5(3), 1995, pp. 412-418
Fungus gnats, Bradysia coprophila, damage plant roots and are involved
in transmitting serious plant pathogens. The entomopathogenic nematod
e Steinernema feltiae (SN) significantly reduced numbers of fungus gna
t larvae in potting medium in greenhouse-grown poinsettias, Euphorbia
pulcherrima, in comparison with Steinernema carpocapsae (All), the bac
terial insecticide Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis, and the
insect growth regulator kinoprene. Levels of insect control were indis
tinguishable between Steinernema feltiae (SN) and the organophosphate
insecticide diazinon, suggesting that the use of S. feltiae (SN) may b
e both a biorational and an economical alternative to conventional che
mical control. In a petri dish bioassay, second- and fourth-instar fun
gus gnats were significantly more susceptible than pupae to infection
by S. feltiae (SN). However, pupae mere susceptible to some level of n
ematode infection not only by S. feltiae (SN), but also by S. feltiae
(UK), S. carpocapsae (All), and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora (NC). Po
tato discs placed on the potting medium proved to be a reliable method
of monitoring fungus gnat populations in comparison to yellow sticky
cards. (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.