engleski

Mortality of the Red Flour Beetle (Tribolium castaneum) when exposed to Croatian strain of entomopathogenic nematodes Steinernema feltiae

: Complex strategies are employed to control pests of stored agricultural products. Tribolium castaneum (the red flour beetle) is a common pest found worldwide in stored grains. The pest has developed resistance to chemical pesticides, and biological alternatives are the only tool used as a direct control measure. Entomopathogenic nematodes are used in different agricultural systems as biological control agents whose efficiency in plant protection is often comparable to chemical pesticides. An increasing need for the development of new and enhancement of existing biological control agents led us to study the effect of the insecticidal efficacy of two species of entomopathogenic nematodes (Croatian strain: Steinernema feltiae) against T. castaneum larvae and adults. The experiment was set up under laboratory condition. The pathogenicity of IJs of entomopathogenic nematodes was tested in different nematode concentrations (0, 300 and 700 IJs insect- 1 ) under two temperature regimes (15 and 25 °C). The red flour beetle mortality was achieved up to 82% depending on the insect developmental stage, temperature and nematode concentration. S. feltiae were pathogenic to the red flour beetle at temperatures of 15 °C which is optimal for storing grains. The red flour beetle was susceptible to tested entomopathogenic nematodes and offspring are recovered from the insect cadavers.

entomopathogenic nematode ; the red flour beetle ; stored insect pest ; biological control ; nematode concentration ; temperature

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