Entomogenous Nematodes as Biological Control Agents of European Chafer and Japanese Beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) Larvae Infesting Turfgrass

Authors

M. G. Villani, Cornell University
Robert J. Wright, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

April 1988

Comments

Published in Journal of Economic Entomology Volume 81 Issue 2 (April 1988), pp. 484 – 487. © 1988 Entomological Society of America. Used by permission.

Abstract

In laboratory studies, infective juveniles of Steinernema feltiae Filipjev (=Neoaplectana carpocapsae Weiser) (All strain) and Heterorhabditis heliothidis (Khan, Brooks & Hirschmann) were tested for their ability to control third-instar European chafer (EC), Rhizotrogus majalis (Razoumowsky), in soil at rates from 19.4-310.0 nematodes per cm² of soil surface. H. heliothidis provided better control of EC larvae than S. feltiae over the range of rates tested. After 25 d, treatment with H. heliothidis provided 94% control of larvae at the lowest rate tested (19.4 per cm²). In a field test in turf against a mixed population of Japanese beetle, Popillia japonica Newman, and EC larvae, H. heliothidis (310 per cm²) provided >60% control (47 d after treatment), which was equivalent to the control achieved with the labeled rates of chlorpyrifos, trichlorfon, and isofenphos against this combination of white grubs.