title: First Record of Steinernema kraussei (Rhabditida: Steinernematidae) from Turkey and Its Virulence against Agrotis segetum (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae).
abstract: During a survey of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) in the eastern Black Sea region of Turkey in 2009-2012, a steinernematid species was recorded and isolated using the Galleria-baiting method. The isolate was identified as Steinernema kraussei based on its morphological and molecular properties. The analysis of the ITS rDNA sequence placed the Turkish population of S. kraussei in the "feltiae-kraussei" group in the clade that contains different isolates of the species. This is the first record of S. kraussei from Turkey. The efficacy of S. kraussei was tested on Agrotis segetum (Lepidoptera: Noctuidea) larvae at different densities (100, 300, and 500 infective juveniles (IJs) g(-1) dry sand ) in laboratory conditions at 25 °C. The highest mortality (98%) was obtained with 500 IJs g(-1) dry sand within 7 d after inoculation. Our results indicate that the new isolate is a highly promising biological control agent against A. segetum, one of the most serious soil pests of agricultural area and fruits worldwide.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Karadeniz Technical University, 61080 Trabzon-Turkey.
authors.forename: Cihan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gokce
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Giresun University, 28049 Giresun-Turkey.
authors.forename: Huseyin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yilmaz
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Karadeniz Technical University, 61080 Trabzon-Turkey.
authors.forename: Zeynep
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Erbas
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Karadeniz Technical University, 61080 Trabzon-Turkey.
authors.forename: Zihni
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Demirbag
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Karadeniz Technical University, 61080 Trabzon-Turkey.
authors.forename: Ismail
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Demir
keywords: Agrotis segetum; Entomopathogenic nematode; Steinernema kraussei; Turkey; biological control