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TURKISH JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL AND NATURAL SCIENCE, vol.7, no.2, pp.375-380, 2020 (Peer-Reviewed Journal)
Chemical insecticides used against cockroaches, which are an important urban pest and considered public health, are harmful to human health and cause insects to gain resistance. The entomopathogenic nematode (EPN), Heterorhabditis bacteriophora HBH, were used in place of chemical insecticides within the scope of biological control against the Turkestan cockroaches Blatta lateralis in this study. The hydrophilic fabric traps were set to provide the moist environment needed by the EPNs on aboveground. The fabrics inoculated with the nematodes at 50, 100 and 150 IJs/cm2 were used throughout the 37-day experiment. The first treatment was performed by adding 10 adult cockroaches immediately after the establishment of the traps. In the same way, the second treatment was applied after 15 days and the third treatment after 30 days. The mortality rates of cockroaches after 4 and 7 days of exposure to EPNs were determined for all treatments. Although Turkestan cockroaches were exposed to HBH 30 days after the setting of the traps, infection occurred. As a result of this study, the above-ground persistence and infectivity of HBH could be achieved more than 4 weeks by using hydrophilic fabric. In addition, the mortality rates of the Turkestan cockroaches were found to increase depending on exposure time and the nematode dosage.