BIOLOGY AND LIFE-CYCLE OF A NEW-ZEALAND POPULATION OF HETERORHABDITIS-HELIOTHIDIS (HETERORHABDITIDAE)

The life cycle of a Heterorhabditis population reared in Galleria mellonella (L) (Lepidoptera: Galleriidae) closely resembling H. heliothidis (Khan et al., 1976) was studied. Two cycles can be recognised, one with a complete set of four larval stages and one with only a first and a fourth larval stage. L1 hatches from the egg. L2 is the resistant infective stage with longitudinal lines in the cuticle. L3 possesses sclerotised structures in the lip region. L4 in the complete life cycle are always female. L4 in the short cycle are female or male. The male is short lived and probably does not feed. The female of the complete cycle is usually larger than those developing through the short cycle but in all other characters they are the same. All stages are described and illustrated. © 1979 BRILL.