The potato tuber moth,Phthorimaea operculella(Zeller), is a serious pest of potato and other commercial crops belonging to the Solanaceae family. In recent years, it has become an emerging problem in potato-growing regions of the Nilgiri hills of southern India. It is responsible for the reduced quality and quantity of marketable potatoes. In this regard, the development of an eco-friendly control method for the management of the potato tuber moth is urgently required. Therefore, in the present study, the virulence ofSteinernema cholashanenseCPRSUS01 originally isolated from the potato rhizosphere was tested on fourth-instar larvae and pupae ofP. operculella.Steinernema cholashanensecaused the greatest mortality in the fourth-instar larval stage (100%) than the pupae (30%). In addition to this, penetration and reproduction of this nematode was also studied in fourth-instar larvae ofP. operculellaand this is the first report of penetration and reproduction of any entomopathogenic nematode species on potato tuber moth larvae. The reproduction capacity ofS. cholashanenseonP. operculellais higher (702 infective juveniles mg−1body weight). Our results indicated thatS. cholashanensehas good potential as an alternative tool for the management ofP. operculella. But before includingS. cholashanensein the integrated pest management program ofP. operculella, its efficacy should be tested under field conditions.

中文翻译：

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Steinernema cholashanense (Nguyen) 对马铃薯块茎蛾幼虫和蛹期的生防潜力 Phthorimaea operculella (Zeller)

马铃薯块茎蛾，带盖甲藻(Zeller)，是属于茄科的马铃薯和其他经济作物的严重害虫。近年来，它已成为印度南部尼尔吉里山马铃薯种植区的一个新问题。它是导致可销售马铃薯质量和数量下降的原因。在这方面，迫切需要开发一种用于管理马铃薯块茎蛾的生态友好型控制方法。因此，在本研究中，毒力胆线虫最初从马铃薯根际分离的 CPRSUS01 在马铃薯的四龄幼虫和蛹上进行了测试。P. operculella.胆线虫造成四龄幼虫期（100%）的死亡率高于蛹（30%）。除此之外，还研究了这种线虫在四龄幼虫中的渗透和繁殖。P. operculella这是关于任何昆虫病原线虫物种在马铃薯块茎蛾幼虫身上渗透和繁殖的第一份报告。的繁殖能力S. cholashanense在P. operculella更高（702 感染青少年毫克-1体重）。我们的结果表明S. cholashanense有很好的潜力作为管理的替代工具P. operculella. 但在包括之前S. cholashanense在综合虫害管理计划中P. operculella，其功效应在田间条件下进行测试。