The western corn rootworm (WCR), Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte, is an economically important pest of maize in Europe and North America, causing considerable yield losses. This dissertation presents results of a three-year field study (2016–2018) conducted in two different pedoclimatic regions naturally infested with a WCR population. We studied the effectiveness of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) Heterorhabditis bacteriophora Poinar as an environmentally friendly method against WCR larvae. Concurrently, we compared the effectiveness of EPN to two most commonly used insecticides based on the active ingredient tefluthrin (Force 1,5 G) from the group of synthetic pyrethriods, and the active ingredient thiacloprid (Sonido FS 400) from the group of neonicotinoids, against soil pests in maize. We developed a special system for EPN application into the soil when sowing maize. We found that the treatment with H. bacteriophora significantly affects the hatching of the beetle and was as effective as a tefluthrin treatment. We further evaluated the toxicities of the aegerolysin-based protein complexes OlyA6/PlyB, PlyA2/PlyB and EryA/PlyB from the oyster mushroom (Pleurotus spp.) to adult WCR. We found that the OlyA6/PlyB complex significantly increasing the beetle mortality. We believe that EPN provide an environmentally friendly solution to WCR control and that the aegerolysin-based protein complexes may contribute to the development of new bioinsecticides to control target plant pest.
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