Observations on an Indian Population of the Entomopathogenic Nematode, Heterorhabditis bacteriophora Poinar, 1976

The natural occurrence of Heterorhabditis bacteriophora Poinar, 1976 in a forest soil from Burliar, Tamil Nadu, India, is reported along with the dimensions of this population. The life cycle of this isolate was completed in eight days at laboratory temperatures of 23.0°C (minimum) and 30.2°C (maximum) on larvae of Corcyra cephalonica Stainton (Galleridae: Lepidoptera). Under experimental conditions, it infected larvae of certain Elaterldae (Coleoptera), Noctuidae, Papilionidae and Nymphalidae (Lepidoptera) and adults of Acrididae (Orthoptera). The LC 50 for fourth-instar larvae of Spodoptera litura (Fabricius) (Noctuidae: Lepidoptera) was 19.14 dauers per larva at room temperatures of 22.3°C (minimum) and 30.0°C (maximum).