JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL AND URBAN ENTOMOLOGY, cilt.23, sa.3, ss.159-166, 2006 (SCI-Expanded)
One-hundred thirty soil samples from five ecologically diverse habitats in 10 locations in South Carolina were assessed to detect natural populations of entomopathogenic nematodes using the Galleria baiting technique. Twenty-two soil samples (16.9%) in eight sites contained entomopathogenic nematodes. Sixteen samples (12.3%) were positive for Heterorhabditis. Heterorhabditids in 13 samples were identified as H. bacteriophora. Two sites produced H. zealandica, and one isolate was H. megidis. Six samples (4.6%) yielded Steinernema. Four of these samples were identified as S. glaseri, and the other two samples were Steinernema sp. Only one site yielded both Heterorhabditis and Steinernema. The soil texture of positive soils were sand, loamy sand, and sandy loam with strongly acidic (pH 4.3) to neutral (pH 7.0) and average of 3% organic content for Heterorhabditis-positive soil samples, and loamy sand and sandy loam with strongly (pH 4.3) to weak (pH 6.0) acidic and average of 4% organic content for Steinernema-positive soil samples