Entomopathogenic nematode isolation in maize organic field soils of Southwestern France

Abstract: Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) are soil-dwelling insect parasites of high interest for biological control. We hypothesize that the duration of the classical method used to bait EPNs in soils limits the description of the EPN diversity. We therefore tested in soil samples of maize organic field plots of Southwestern France the prolongation of the capture period with multiple Galleria mellonella-baiting cycles. We actually observed an increase of both the number of EPN isolates and the EPN species diversity.