College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, People's Republic of China.
Pest Manag Sci. 2014 Jun;70(6):895-904. doi: 10.1002/ps.3685. Epub 2013 Dec 26.
Direct application of insect cadavers infected with entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) can successfully control target pest insects. Little is known about the effects of environmental factors (desiccation and temperature) on the production process for infective juveniles (IJ) in insects.
We examined the effects of desiccation time and cold storage (6.7 °C) on IJ production of the nematode Steinernema carpocapsae in Galleria mellonella cadavers at 30.8 and 57% humidity. Under desiccation, the IJ yield in cadavers increased gradually and reached a maximum on day 5. IJ yield gradually declined from day 6 onwards and was almost zero by day 15. In general, cold storage at 6.7 °C caused negative effects on IJ production in desiccated cadavers. Approximately 56 h post infection was the time at which nematodes were most sensitive to low temperatures during development in cadavers. Five-day desiccated cadavers generated higher mortality and more rapid death of Galleria mellonella larvae than using newly (day 0) desiccated cadavers.
This study describe methods of optimizing rearing techniques such as desiccation and cold storage to promote the mass production and application of EPN- infected host cadavers for the field control of insect pests.
直接应用感染昆虫病原线虫（EPN）的昆虫尸体可以成功控制目标害虫。然而，关于环境因素（干燥和温度）对昆虫体内感染性幼虫（IJ）生产过程的影响，人们知之甚少。
我们研究了干燥时间和冷藏（6.7°C）对 30.8%和 57%湿度下 S. carpocapsae 在 G. mellonella 尸体中 IJ 生产的影响。在干燥条件下，尸体中的 IJ 产量逐渐增加，在第 5 天达到最大值。从第 6 天开始，IJ 产量逐渐下降，到第 15 天几乎为零。一般来说，6.7°C 的冷藏对干燥尸体中 IJ 的产生有负面影响。在尸体中发育过程中，线虫对低温最敏感的时间大约是感染后 56 小时。与使用新（第 0 天）干燥尸体相比，干燥 5 天的尸体导致更高的死亡率和 G. mellonella 幼虫更快的死亡。
本研究描述了优化饲养技术（如干燥和冷藏）的方法，以促进 EPN 感染宿主尸体的大规模生产和应用，用于田间害虫的控制。
