Host influences on the pathogenicity of Heterorhabditis megidis

摘要

The infectivity of infective juveniles (IJs) of Heterorhabditis megidis (strain NLHE 87.3) produced on small, medium and large larvae of Galleria mellonella, and on medium and large larvae of Otiorhynchus sulcatus was tested under laboratory conditions against G. mellonella and O. sulcatus larvae. Infective juveniles originating from small G. mellonella exposed to an initial dose of one IJ were more infectious than those from small cadavers exposed to a dose of 30 IJs. Independent of the initial inoculum size, IJs from small cadavers of G. mellonella were more infectious than those from medium and large cadavers. At a dose of one IJ per larva, IJs originating from medium size O. sulcatus cadavers were more infective against G. mellonella than against O. sulcatus larvae. Large G. mellonella larvae were less susceptible to all IJ batches than medium and small sized larvae.