Study of attraction behaviour of indigenous isolates of entomopathogenic nematodes using Galleria mellonella.

Cruising ability of host searching behaviour of some of the entomopathogenic nematode species was analyzed in agar plate (petri dish scoring system) using the last instar larvae of greater wax moth, Galleria mellonella as host. Petri dish scoring system was based on the probability of nematode distribution in the presence/absence of the insect host. It was given weightage, depending on the number of nematodes reaching the target insect. The weighted responses were given ranks and scores to make quantitative analysis of the attraction behaviour of nematodes. The movement of nematodes in presence of host increased significantly as the duration of observation increased. Among the species of Heterorhabditis, H. indica PDBC EN 13.31 and PDBC EN 13.4 proved the best cruisers followed by Heterorhabditis sp. PDBC EN 4.6 and PDBCEN 4.5 isolates. Among steinemematids, S. feltiae was the best followed by S. abbasi and S. carpocapsae.