Efficacy of entomopathogenic nematode isolates from Turkey and Kyrgyzstan against the larvae of the mosquito species Culex pipiens L. (Diptera: Culicidae) under laboratory conditions

Abstract

Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) are among the most important of the pests in urban entomology, and they not only disturb people but they are also an important health hazard as they are diseases' vectors. The biological control methods against this pest, which is difficult to fight off, have recently gained importance. A total of five different entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs), Steinernema feltiae (Aydın isolate), S. carpocapsae (Karadeniz isolate) , and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora (Aydın isolate) isolated from Turkey and S. feltiae (KG3) and H. bacteriophora (KG81) isolated from Kyrgyzstan, were tested against the mosquito species Culex pipiens L. (Diptera: Culicidae) larvae under laboratory conditions. The experimental nematode suspensions were determined as 500, 1000, and 1500 IJs ml −1. The mortality rates in the trial were recorded after 24, 48, 72, 96, and 120 h. Dead mosquitoes were dissected under a microscope and confirmed to have died by the EPNs. Larval mortality was observed in all EPN species compared to the control group. H. bacteriophora (KG81) and S. carpocapsae isolates were found to be the most effective isolates with 100% larval mortality. The other isolates were H. bacteriophora (Aydın isolate) (70%), S. feltiae (KG3) (66.67%), and the most ineffective isolate S. feltiae (Aydın isolate) (13.3%).

Virulence of Entomopathogenic Nematodes and their Symbiotic Bacteria against Insect Pests, with Special Reference to Agrotis ipsilon (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae): A Comprehensive Review.

“…Also, Ben Husin and Porta (2021) discussed some factors affecting the survival and efficacy of EPNs against the tomato leafminerTuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), such as the EPN species; RH, temperature range, time required by EPNs to enter a tomato leaf and number of applications in whole leaf bioassays. Therefore, it is important to study the environmental conditions of the areas where EPN exists to ensure its success as a biological control agent (Ulvedal et al, 2017;Toksoz and Saruhan, 2018).…”

Efficacy of Heterorhabdits indica LPP35 against Aedes aegypti in domiciliary oviposition sites

“…Most studies on the efficacy of EPNs against mosquito larvae have been conducted only in the laboratory, with a variety of methodological procedures that limits generalizations (for a review see Cardoso et al, 2015). Recent assays still have not examined key parameters that may determine the efficacy and viability of EPNs for biocontrol of mosquitoes (Chaudhary et al, 2017;Ulvedal et al, 2017;Toksoz and Saruhan, 2018;Dilipkumar et al, 2019).…”