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Effect of Different Soils on Pheromone-Enhanced Movement of Entomopathogenic Nematodes Cover

Effect of Different Soils on Pheromone-Enhanced Movement of Entomopathogenic Nematodes

Open Access
|Mar 2025

Figures & Tables

Figure 1:

Mean (± SE) number of dead Tenebrio molitor larvae resulting from exposure to Heterorhabditis bacteriophora (HbVS), Steinernema feltiae (SfSN) and Steinernema carpocapsae (ScAll). The nematodes were either exposed to pheromones or not exposed. Insect baiting was done in different soils (the soil effects are combined across treatments): commercial play sand, Byron orchard soil (B) and Tifton orchard soil (T). The number of dead insects reflect the level of nematode efficacy after moving through a soil column; The soil from the bottom section of a soil column was exposed to the insects. Bars with the same letter are not significantly different within each nematode species (Tukey’s test, alpha = 0.05).
Mean (± SE) number of dead Tenebrio molitor larvae resulting from exposure to Heterorhabditis bacteriophora (HbVS), Steinernema feltiae (SfSN) and Steinernema carpocapsae (ScAll). The nematodes were either exposed to pheromones or not exposed. Insect baiting was done in different soils (the soil effects are combined across treatments): commercial play sand, Byron orchard soil (B) and Tifton orchard soil (T). The number of dead insects reflect the level of nematode efficacy after moving through a soil column; The soil from the bottom section of a soil column was exposed to the insects. Bars with the same letter are not significantly different within each nematode species (Tukey’s test, alpha = 0.05).

Figure 2:

Mean (± SE) number of dead Tenebrio molitor larvae resulting from exposure to Heterorhabditis bacteriophora (HbVS), Steinernema feltiae (SfSN) and Steinernema carpocapsae (ScAll) baiting in different soils: commercial play sand, Byron orchard soil (B) and Tifton orchard soil (T). The number of dead insects reflect the level of nematode efficacy after moving through a soil column; The soil from the bottom section of a soil column was exposed to the insects. Bars with the same letter within species are not significantly different (Tukey’s test, alpha = 0.05).
Mean (± SE) number of dead Tenebrio molitor larvae resulting from exposure to Heterorhabditis bacteriophora (HbVS), Steinernema feltiae (SfSN) and Steinernema carpocapsae (ScAll) baiting in different soils: commercial play sand, Byron orchard soil (B) and Tifton orchard soil (T). The number of dead insects reflect the level of nematode efficacy after moving through a soil column; The soil from the bottom section of a soil column was exposed to the insects. Bars with the same letter within species are not significantly different (Tukey’s test, alpha = 0.05).

Figure 3:

Mean (± SE) ratios of dead Tenebrio molitor in soil baited with Heterorhabditis bacteriophora, Steinernema feltiae and Steinernema carpocapsae exposed to pheromone (treatment) divided by dead insects from nematodes not exposed to pheromones (control). The number of dead insects reflect the level of nematode efficacy after moving through a soil column; The soil from the bottom section of a soil column was exposed to the insects. This ratio measures the magnitude of the pheromone boosting effect on nematode efficacy among species. Bars with the same letter are not significantly different (Tukey’s test, alpha = 0.05).
Mean (± SE) ratios of dead Tenebrio molitor in soil baited with Heterorhabditis bacteriophora, Steinernema feltiae and Steinernema carpocapsae exposed to pheromone (treatment) divided by dead insects from nematodes not exposed to pheromones (control). The number of dead insects reflect the level of nematode efficacy after moving through a soil column; The soil from the bottom section of a soil column was exposed to the insects. This ratio measures the magnitude of the pheromone boosting effect on nematode efficacy among species. Bars with the same letter are not significantly different (Tukey’s test, alpha = 0.05).

Figure 4:

Mean (± SE) ratios of dead Tenebrio molitor in different soils baited with entomopathogenic nematodes (Heterorhabditis bacteriophora, Steinernema feltiae and Steinernema carpocapsae) exposed to pheromone (treatment) divided by dead insects from nematodes not exposed to pheromones (control). Nematode species effects are combined across treatments. The ratio measures the magnitude of the relative pheromone boosting effect on different soils. The number of dead insects reflect the level of nematode efficacy after moving through a soil column; The soil from the bottom section of a soil column was exposed to the insects. Bars with the same letter are not significantly different (Tukey’s test, alpha = 0.05).
Mean (± SE) ratios of dead Tenebrio molitor in different soils baited with entomopathogenic nematodes (Heterorhabditis bacteriophora, Steinernema feltiae and Steinernema carpocapsae) exposed to pheromone (treatment) divided by dead insects from nematodes not exposed to pheromones (control). Nematode species effects are combined across treatments. The ratio measures the magnitude of the relative pheromone boosting effect on different soils. The number of dead insects reflect the level of nematode efficacy after moving through a soil column; The soil from the bottom section of a soil column was exposed to the insects. Bars with the same letter are not significantly different (Tukey’s test, alpha = 0.05).

Figure 5:

Mean (± SE) number of dead Tenebrio molitor larvae resulting from Heterorhabditis bacteriophora (HbVS), Steinernema feltiae (SfSN) and Steinernema carpocapsae (ScAll) with and without pheromone exposure in different soils: commercial play sand, Byron orchard soil (B) and Tifton orchard soil(T) (the soil effects are combined across treatments). The number of dead insects reflect the level of nematode efficacy after moving through a soil column; The soil from the bottom section of a soil column was exposed to the insects. Bars with the same letter within each pheromone series are not significantly different (Tukey’s test, alpha = 0.05).
Mean (± SE) number of dead Tenebrio molitor larvae resulting from Heterorhabditis bacteriophora (HbVS), Steinernema feltiae (SfSN) and Steinernema carpocapsae (ScAll) with and without pheromone exposure in different soils: commercial play sand, Byron orchard soil (B) and Tifton orchard soil(T) (the soil effects are combined across treatments). The number of dead insects reflect the level of nematode efficacy after moving through a soil column; The soil from the bottom section of a soil column was exposed to the insects. Bars with the same letter within each pheromone series are not significantly different (Tukey’s test, alpha = 0.05).

Characteristics of three soils included in entomopathogenic nematode movement studies_

Tifton Orchard soilByron Orchard soilPlay Sand
Field-capacity (%)13.514.58
Low cation buffer (LCB) (ppm CaCO3/Ph)238.0353.049.00
pH CaCl25.484.776.16
Equivalent water pH6.085.376.76
Sand (%)98.184.1100.0
Silt (%)1.913.60.0
Clay (%)0.02.20.0
Organic matter (%)1.6706.2590.0340
Calcium (kg/ha)1217.242252.91178.77
Potassium (kg/ha)132.82219.6857.42
Magnesium (kg/ha)181.12278.9717.86
Manganese (kg/ha)15.13299.262.953
Phosphorus (kg/ha)337.93162.1811.44
Zinc (kg/ha)32.7851.981.769
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jofnem-2025-0009 | Journal eISSN: 2640-396X | Journal ISSN: 0022-300X
Language: English
Submitted on: Jan 2, 2025
Published on: Mar 29, 2025
Published by: Society of Nematologists, Inc.
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 1 times per year

© 2025 Sehrish Gulzar, Kyle Slusher, Fatma Kaplan, Edwin E. Lewis, Steven Hobbs, David Shapiro-Ilan, published by Society of Nematologists, Inc.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.