Lateral dispersal of Steinernema carpocapsae in the presence and absence of non-mobile hosts.

Mean (±SE) number of infected Galleria mellonella baits from the collected soil core samples and mean (±SE) percentage of infective juveniles (IJs) of Steinernema carpocapsae dispersed to a 2 cm wide arc at distances, 3.8, 7.6 and 11.4 cm over a period of 12 to 72 hr in the presence of a live non-mobile host, G. mellonella contained in a wire mesh cage buried in one of the quadrants in the microcosms containing autoclaved field soil with vegetation in comparison with the opposite quadrant of the same microcosm containing no host. Double asterisk (**) indicates significant difference between distances (D), presence or absence of the host (H) and interaction between the two (D*H) at a time point at P ≤ 0.05. Capital and small letters indicate Tukey’s comparison for means separation between distances averaged over presence or absence of the host, and presence and absence of host averaged over distances, respectively at a time point. NS = P > 0.05.Lateral dispersal of Steinernema carpocapsae in the presence and absence of non-mobile hosts.