Entomopathogenic nematodes for biological control of horn fly, Haematobia irritans L. (Diptera: Muscidae), preliminary studies.

Nine populations of entomopathogenic nematodes belonging to seven species of Steinernema and Heterorhabditis genera were tested against horn fly (Haematobia irritans L.). The study was carried out under laboratory conditions in three experiments: fly larvae in Petri dish, pupae in soil and pupae in manure. Eight nematode populations showed infectivity against larvae or adult fl y in the Petri dish test but only S. carpocapsae showed infectivity in the soil and in the manure tests. Soil pastures sampled from Tamaulipas did not show presence of any natural entomopathogenic nematode population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]