Biocontrol potential of entomopathogenic nematodes against the grey maize weevil Tanymecus dilaticollis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) adults.

The grey maize weevil, Tanymecus dilaticollis, is a polyphagous species, which is among the most important pests of maize in Southeastern Europe. The efficacy of commercial products with two species of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs), Steinernema carpocapsae and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora, was investigated against adults of the grey maize weevil under laboratory conditions. Nemastar®, containing S.

Phytophagous larvae occurring in Central and Southeastern European oak forests as a potential host of Entomophaga maimaiga (Entomophthorales: Entomophthoraceae) - A field study.

We evaluated the presence and impact of Entomophaga maimaiga on both target and non-target phytophagous larvae. All six study plots, with low gypsy moth population density, were situated in Central and Southeastern European oak forests and E. maimaiga had previously been reported from these plots.

Natural occurrence of microsporidia infecting Lepidoptera in Bulgaria.

We examined 34 lepidopteran species belonging to 12 families to determine presence and prevalence of microsporidian pathogens. The insects were collected from May 2009 to July 2012 from 44 sites in Bulgaria. Nosema species were isolated from Archips xylosteana, Tortrix viridana, Operophtera brumata, Orthosia cerasi, and Orthosia cruda.

Review of the genus Endoreticulatus (Microsporidia, Encephalitozoonidae) with description of a new species isolated from the grasshopper Poecilimon thoracicus (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) and transfer of Microsporidium itiiti Malone to the genus.

The historic genus Pleistophora (Plistophora) is a highly polyphyletic clade with invertebrate Microsporidia reassigned to several new genera since the 1980s. Two genera, Endoreticulatus and Cystosporogenes, clearly separate into distinct but closely related clades based on small subunit ribosomal RNA analysis but are included in different families that are each polyphyletic. A microsporidium with morphology resembling the Endoreticulatus/Cystosporogenes clade was isolated from the grasshopper Poecilimon thoracicus from a site in Northwest Bulgaria.