U.S. flagAn official website of the United States government
                    Here's how you know **Official websites use .gov**
                            
                            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
 **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
                            
                            A **lock** (                            
                              A locked padlock                                                      
                            
                            ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Menu Agricultural Research Service
						
                    U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 Fruit and Tree Nut Research: Byron, GA
 close



    Research

                    Research Projects
                                    Publications
                                    Collaborations
                                    News
                People

                    Staff Listing
                                    CareersSearch small
                    Search
            
            ARS Home
                                About ARS
                                Contact Us




ARS Home Southeast Area Byron, Georgia Fruit and Tree Nut Research Research Publications at this Location





- ARS National Programs
- Search for a scientific manuscript
- Search for a research project
- ARS Software
- Programs and Projects
- Collaborations
- Subjects of Investigation
- Publications

Title:   Author  item
                                            STUART, ROBIN - UNIV. OF FLORIDAitem
                                            Shapiro Ilan, Daviditem
                                            James, Rosalinditem
                                            NGUYEN, KHUONG - UNIV. OF FLORIDAitem
                                            MCCOY, CLAYTON - UNIV. OF FLORIDA
  Submitted to: Biological Control
                                    Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
                                    Publication Acceptance Date: 11/22/2003
                                    Publication  Date: 1/14/2004
                                    Citation: Stuart, R.J., Shapiro Ilan, D.I., James, R.R., Nguyen, K.B., Mccoy, C.W. 2004. Virulence of new and mixed strains of the entomopathogenic nematode steinernema riobrave to larvae of the citrus root weevil diaprepes abbreviatus. Biological Control. v.30. p.439-445.Interpretive Summary: 
The naturally occurring round worm called S. riobrave kills harmful insect pests but does not hurt people or the environment.  One of the insects that this worm (called a nematode) is used for control of is a very serious pest of citrus in Florida called the diaprepes root weevil.  However, only one strain (kind) of S. riobrave is currently available and it does not always kill the diaprepes root weevil effectively (sometimes it does and sometimes not).  Our goal was to find new strains of this nematode so that maybe the new ones would work better than the old one.  Therefore, we revisited the general area in which the original strain was isolated in Texas and Mexico and found ten new strains of S. riobrave.  Several of the new strains were found to be better at killing the diaprepes root weevil and a mixture of all the strains was the best of all.  Thus, the new strains may have great value in development of environmentally friendly methods to control the diaprepes root weevil and other weevil pests as well.
                                Technical Abstract: Steinernema riobrave generally ranks as the best entomopathogenic nematode for biological control applications against larvae of the root weevil Diaprepes abbreviatus in Florida citrus groves.  However, only one strain of S. riobrave is known.  The objective of this study was to find new strains of S. riobrave and determine if they may have greater biocontrol potential than the currect strain.  We revisited the general area in which the original strain was isolated (the low Rio Grande Valley near Weslaco, TX) and used insect baiting to obtain 10 new isolates of S. riobrave.  Incidentally, a new species of entomopathogenic nematode in the genus Heterorhabditis was also found.  Laboratory assays indicated several of the new strains have superior virulence compared to the old strain, and a mixed strain (created by pooling all the new strains) had the highest virulence.  These data indicate that some of the new strains or the mixed strain could be more effective for biological control of D. abbreviatus than the current commercial strain.


Return to top


Connect with ARS Sign up


ARS Home
                            USDA.gov
                            Plain Writing
                            Policies & Links
                            Civil Rights Statements
                            FOIA
                            Accessibility Statement
                            Privacy Policy
                            Non-Discrimination Statement
                            Quality of Information
                            USA.gov
                            WhiteHouse.gov