Control of western corn rootworm with entomopathogenic nematodes in maize monoculture

Abstract

Western corn rootworm is one of the most dangerous pests of maize, and both the larvae and the imagoes thereof may cause significant damage to the plants. The options of controlling these pests have recently become highly limited, thus creating a great demand for new control methods complying with sustainable plant protection. These requirements are met by the natural enemies of these pests, such as entomopathogenic nematodes (e.g. Heterorhabditis bacteriophora, Gerritsen, 1994). The objective of this study was to determine whether the viability and larvicide effect of a single injection into the soil of 2 billion nematodes using various amounts of water (50, 100 or 200 L/hectare) was maintained even with the lower quantities. Our studies proved that the entomopathogenic nematodes retain their viability and larvicide effect when applied using 50 L/ha of water. The efficacy of the biological agent did not differ from that of Force 1.5G, a product containing Tefluthrin as active ingredient, which was used as positive control.