Abstract

The survival and infectivity of entomopathogenic nematodes at different storage temperatures were studied. The entomopathogenic nematodes, Heterorhabditis indica and Steinernema glaseri differed in their survival and ability to infect insects at different storage temperatures. The best storage temperatures for survival of H. indica were 20o and 25oC under BOD conditions for 90 days. Also, the infectivity was upto 90 days at different storage temperatures of 10o, 20o and 25oC when tested against Corcyra cephalonica. S. glaseri survived longer upto 120 days and 100 per cent survival were observed at the temperature regimes of 10o, 20o and 25oC and the infectivity was upto 60 days at 20oC when tested against Corcyra cephalonica.

Keywords: Entomopathogenic nematodes, Heterorhabditis indica, Steinernema glaseri, Storage temperature.