BIOCONTROL OF SLUGS IN PROTECTED LETTUCE USING THE RHABDITID NEMATODE PHASMARHABDITIS-HERMAPHRODITA

In two experiments, the rhabditid nematode Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita, a parasite of slugs, was cultured in vitro and applied as a drench to soil at four dose rates (3 x 10(8), 1 X 10(9) 3 X 10(9) and 1 X 10(10) ha(-1)) 1 or 4 days before planting lettuce seedlings in a polythene tunnel. The effects of the four nematode doses on slug damage during the first 3 weeks after planting and on the numbers of slugs found within and below lettuce plants at harvest were measured Results were then compared with untreated plots and with plots where methiocarb pellets were applied at the recommended field rate. In the first experiment, methiocarb pellets significantly reduced the percentage of plants damaged by slugs but the nematode did not. In the second experiment, methiocarb pellets and the second highest dose of nematodes significantly reduced the percent age of plants damaged by slugs. The different effect of the nematode in the two experiments may have resulted from differences in the timing of nematode application and/or differences in the pattern of slug damage between experiments. At the end of the first experiment, the highest two doses of nematodes and methiocarb pellets had significantly reduced the number of slugs found within lettuce plants at harvest and on the soil surface below the plants. Ar the end of the second experiment, analysis of variance showed no significant effects of any treatment on slug numbers or biomass, but regression analysis showed significant negative relationships between nematode dose and total slug numbers, numbers of Arion ater agg. and biomass of Deroceras reticulatum. III both experiments, increasing nematode dose significantly reduced the numbers of slugs found contaminating the harvested lettuce. At the end of the second experiment, the mean weight of individuals of A. ater agg. increased with rising nematode dose.