title: A Comparison of Novel Entomopathogenic Nematode Application Methods for Control of the Chive Gnat, Bradysia odoriphaga (Diptera: Sciaridae).
abstract: Bradysia odoriphaga Yang & Zhang (Diptera: Sciaridae) is the most serious pest of Chinese chive, Allium tuberosum Chemical pesticide application has become a necessary step to control B. odoriphaga after each of the four to six harvests during the growing season. We compared the effects of application type (nematode-infected cadaver, aqueous nematode suspension, and mixture of cadaver and aqueous suspension) and nematode species (Heterorhabditis bacteriophora vs. Steinernema carpocapsae) on B. odoriphaga control. Nematode species combinations and the use of the cadaver method has only been tested in a relatively few studies, and has not been tested for this target pest, B. odoriphaga. Furthermore, this is the first report of combining application methods (aqueous and cadaver). Results indicated that the cadaver treatment produced higher mortality of B. odoriphaga than the aqueous treatment, and H. bacteriophora caused higher mortality of B. odoriphaga than S. carpocapsae. The mortality of B. odoriphaga was 96.7% in H. bacteriophora cadaver treatment and only 27.5% in control treatment without nematode addition. Cadaver treatments caused higher biomass of A. tuberosum than that of aqueous treatment. The plant biomass in H. bacteriophora cadaver treatment was 10 folds as much as that in the control treatment. The mixed aqueous suspension of H. bacteriophora and S. carpocapsae did not increase the mortality in pot trial. Our findings indicate that entomopathogenic nematodes applied as cadavers might be a potential alternative biological agent in the integrated management of B. odoriphaga for Chinese chive production.
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, PR China (337910061@qq.com; 1273782392@qq.com; 542138298@qq.com; 1013983070@qq.com; 76005625@qq.com; 809305111@qq.com; 1053091030@qq.com; ruanweibin2004@hotmail.com) ruanweibin2004@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Guang-Ying
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, PR China (337910061@qq.com; 1273782392@qq.com; 542138298@qq.com; 1013983070@qq.com; 76005625@qq.com; 809305111@qq.com; 1053091030@qq.com; ruanweibin2004@hotmail.com).
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, PR China (337910061@qq.com; 1273782392@qq.com; 542138298@qq.com; 1013983070@qq.com; 76005625@qq.com; 809305111@qq.com; 1053091030@qq.com; ruanweibin2004@hotmail.com).
authors.forename: Ya-Qi
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, PR China (337910061@qq.com; 1273782392@qq.com; 542138298@qq.com; 1013983070@qq.com; 76005625@qq.com; 809305111@qq.com; 1053091030@qq.com; ruanweibin2004@hotmail.com).
authors.forename: Xiao-Ying
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, PR China (337910061@qq.com; 1273782392@qq.com; 542138298@qq.com; 1013983070@qq.com; 76005625@qq.com; 809305111@qq.com; 1053091030@qq.com; ruanweibin2004@hotmail.com).
authors.forename: Guang-Shuang
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, PR China (337910061@qq.com; 1273782392@qq.com; 542138298@qq.com; 1013983070@qq.com; 76005625@qq.com; 809305111@qq.com; 1053091030@qq.com; ruanweibin2004@hotmail.com).
authors.forename: Hai-Kun
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, PR China (337910061@qq.com; 1273782392@qq.com; 542138298@qq.com; 1013983070@qq.com; 76005625@qq.com; 809305111@qq.com; 1053091030@qq.com; ruanweibin2004@hotmail.com).
authors.forename: Xiaoling
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Institute of Agricultural Resources and Environmental Sciences, Tianjin 300192, PR China (1097778605@qq.com).
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Institute of Plant Protection, Tianjin 300192, PR China (13752345430@163.com).
authors.forename: Xi-Shu
authors.initials: XS
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: Institution of Agricultural Quality Standards and Testing Technology, Tianjin 300381, PR China (guoyz1971@126.com).
authors.forename: Yong-Ze
authors.initials: YZ
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, PR China (337910061@qq.com; 1273782392@qq.com; 542138298@qq.com; 1013983070@qq.com; 76005625@qq.com; 809305111@qq.com; 1053091030@qq.com; ruanweibin2004@hotmail.com) ruanweibin2004@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Wei-Bin
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Ruan
authors.affiliation: USDA-ARS, Southeastern Fruit and Tree Nut Research Lab, Byron, GA 31008 (David.Shapiro@ars.usda.gov).
authors.forename: David I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Shapiro-Ilan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004175:Diptera / Q000254:growth & development / Q000469:parasitology*; D007814:Larva / Q000254:growth & development / Q000469:parasitology; D010572:Pest Control, Biological / Q000379:methods*; D017172:Rhabditoidea / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Heterorhabditis bacteriophora; biological control; cadaver; entomopathogenic nematode; nematode suspension