38th Annual Meeting of the Society for Invertebrate Pathology

An entomopathogenic nematode in the genus Heterorhabditis, designated as Alcazar-1, was isolated from potato weevil (Premnotrypes suturicallus) larvae and pupae at a potato storage shed in Huasahuasi, Peru. This entomopathogenic nematode was the first one isolated from Peru and shows potential as a biological control agent against weevil pests attacking Andean tubers. Besides potato, another Andean tuber grown by subsistence farmers is oca (Oxalis tuberosa) which serves as an important food source during the winter months. However, the oca weevil (Adioristidius tuberculatus) is a major pest of oca. Our objectives in this study were to determine the susceptibility of oca and potato weevils to Alcazar-1 and ascertain the potential of nematode dips to disinfest oca tuber seeds of weevil larvae and pupae. Our findings show that the Alcazar-1 is highly effective against the fourth-instar oca and potato weevil, can reduce infestation by the first-instar potato weevil larvae in seed potato in soil and can infect oca weevil larvae and pupae within a tuber when the tuber is dipped into a suspension of infective juveniles.