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Video Q&A ViewAttendees 1

Plant-Insect Ecosystems

10-Minute Paper

P-IE: Biocontrol On-Demand Presentations

Entomopathogenic nematodes for the management of plum curculio (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) larvae in highbush blueberries

On-Demand
On-Demand
The plum curculio, Conotrachelus nenuphar Herbst (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is a key pest of stone and pome fruits in the United States. Application of certain entomopathogenic nematode (EPN) species has shown efficacy in some crops (apples, peaches) when targeting the larval stage of C. nenuphar in soil. To date, however, no EPNs have been tested for the control of this pest in highbush blueberries. In 2020, laboratory and field studies were conducted to: 1) determine the persistence of the EPNs Steinernema riobrave, S. carpocapsae, S. feltiae, and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora in acidic blueberry soil, 2) compare the virulence of these EPNs to C. nenuphar larvae and pupae, and 3) to compare the efficacy of these EPN species to control this pest in blueberry fields. The greatest persistence in blueberry soil was exhibited by S. riobrave followed by S. carpocapsae. Superior virulence was observed in S. riobrave against C. nenuphar larvae and pupae. Promising levels of virulence were also observed in S. carpocapsae and S. feltiae against the larvae, but S. scarabaei and S. feltiae had low virulence. In the field, S. riobrave provided significantly higher levels of C. nenuphar suppression (90%) than S. carpocapsae, S. feltiae and S. scarabaei. Additional field experiments are being conducted in 2021 to confirm the efficacy of S. riobrave against C. nenuphar. If the results from 2020 can be confirmed in 2021, S. riobrave could become an important component in the management of C. nenuphar in highbush blueberry.