Textbook of Nematodes for Biological Control

Description

There is a general interest, worldwide, in reducing the use of pesticides in agricultural and horticultural cropping systems. As such, an emphasis now occurs on implementing alternative management strategies, including biological control, to deal with insect and mite pests that are encountered in agriculture and horticulture. Biological control involves the use of parasitoids, predators, pathogens, and entomopathogenic nematodes. Nematodes are invertebrate roundworms that inhabit marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments. They comprise the phylum Nematoda (or Nemata) which includes parasites of plants and of animals, including humans, as well as species that feed on bacteria, fungi, algae, and on other nematodes. There are, however, a small but significant number of beneficial entomogenous nematodes, i.e., nematodes associated with insects. In addition to insects, nematodes can parasitize spiders, leeches, annelids, crustaceans and mollusks. Some of these entomopathogenic nematodes are of considerable interest because of their potential as biological control agents of pest insects. This book “Textbook of Nematodes for Biological Control” is really the first comprehensive book available to provide an abundance of information pertaining to the many facets of entomopathogenic nematodes.