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Sex and the dynamics of infection in the entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema feltiae

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2009

D.A. Bohan  and
W.M. Hominick
D.A. Bohan
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, Silwood Park, Sunninghill, Berks, SL5 7PY, UK
W.M. Hominick
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, Silwood Park, Sunninghill, Berks, SL5 7PY, UK
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Abstract

An infection experiment was conducted to assess the change in the proportions of Steinernema feltiae Filipjev (Site 76 strain) infective juveniles becoming male or female on exposure to the test host Galleria mellonella L. Using a mathematical model for the infection interaction, the per capita probability of penetration per unit time (transmission coefficient), for those juveniles becoming male or female, and the magnitude of the male and female classes in the infective juvenile pool were estimated. The results show that S. feltiae infective juveniles which subsequently become female have a greater probability of invasion into test hosts than their male counterparts, which leads to markedly female biased sex ratios during the initial stages of the infection interaction. As the infection progresses, however, it was found that the sex ratio became balanced. This was because the underlying sex ratio in the infective stage pool was balanced. The implications of this dynamism in the sex ratio of the entomopathogenic nematodes are discussed with respect to the infection interaction, transmission and the likely environment in which the infective juveniles reside.

Type
Research Papers
Information
Journal of Helminthology , Volume 71 , Issue 3 , September 1997 , pp. 197 - 202
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1997

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