Heterorhabditis bacteriophora

Heterorhabditis bacteriophora	Contents	Rev 07/11/2025
	Classification	Biology and Ecology
	Morphology and Anatomy	Life Cycle
Return to Heterorhabditis Menu		Ecosystem Functions and Services
	Distribution	Management
Return to Heterorhabditidae Menu	Feeding	References
	Go to Nemaplex Main Menu	Go to Dictionary of Terminology

Rhabditoidea

Heterorhabditidae

Heterorhabditis bacteriophora Poinar, 1976

Type species of the genus

Synonyms:

Morphology and Anatomy:

Review general morphological characteristics of genus Heterorhabditis

Reported median body size for this species (Length mm; width micrometers; weight micrograms) - Click:

Distribution:

Biology and Ecology:

The following criteria characterize the general biology of entomopathogenic nematodes (a modification of Koch's postulates):

Carry a pathogenic bacterium (Photorhabdus spp.) in the dauer juvenile (infective, IJ) stage.
Photorhabdus is a genus of bioluminescent, gram-negative bacteria living symbiotically within Heterorhabditis spp. Photorhabdus is pathogenic to a wide range of insects.
Dauer IJs actively seek and penetrate insect hosts aminly through natural openings..
Release the bacterium in the insect host.
There is rapid death of the insect host accompanied by exponential increase of the bacterium..
Both nematode and bacterium reproduce within the insect host; the IJ develops into a third-stage feeding larva and mainly into hermaphrodite adults in the case of Heterorhabditis. (In Steinernema they develop into male and female adults).
The bacterium is re-associated with new generations of the nematode.
Infective juvenile nematodes emerge from the cadaver of the insect host

Ref: Dillman, et al., 2012; Ye et al., 2018).

Life Cycle:

Ecophysiological Parameters:

For Ecophysiological Parameters for this species, click	If species level data are not available, click for genus level parameters

Ecosystem Functions and Services:

Entomopathogenic nematodes.

The small hive beetle (SHB), Aethina tumida Murray (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), is a threat to the European-derived western honeybee (Apis mellifera Linnaeus) populations globally. The last instar of the SHB is a non-feeding, wandering stage that exits the hive to pupate in the soil Laboratory biological control experiments indicate intermediate virulence of H. bacteriophora against wandering larvae of SHB (Mbala et al., 2925).

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Management:

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References:

Dhakal. M., Nguyen, K.B., Hunt, D.J., Ehlers. R-U., Spitidonov, S.E., Subbotin, S.A. 2021. Molecular identification, phylogeny and phylogeography of the entomopathogenic nematodes of the genus Heterorhabditis Poinar, 1976: a multigene approach. Nematology 23, 451-466.

Dillman, A.R., Chaston, J.M., Adams, B.J., Ciche, T.A., Goodrich-Blair, H., Stock, S.P., and Sternberg, P.W. 2012. An entomopathogenic nematode by any other name. PLoS Pathogen 8(3): e1002527, available at: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1002527.

Hunt, D.J. and Nguyen, K.B. 2016. Advances in Entonmopathogenic Nematode Taxonomy and Phylogeny. Nematology Monographs and Perspecives 12 Brill, Leiden.

Kaya, H.K., and Gaugler, R. 1993. Entomopathogenic nematodes. Annual Review of Entomology 38: 181-206.

Mbala, G.M., Browning, K., Wansi, S., Li, Y., Ellis, J.D., Kanga, L.H., Shapiro-Ilan, D. I. 2025. Comparative Virulence of Entomopathogenic Nematodes to the Small Hive Beetle (Aethina tumida Murray, Coleoptera: Nitidulidae). J. Nematology 57: | DOI: 10.2478/jofnem-2025-0011

Ye, W. Foye, S., MacGuidwin, A.E., Steffan, S. 2018. Incidence of Oscheius onirici (Nematoda: Rhabditidae), a potentially entomopathogenic nematode from the marshlands of Wisconsin, USA. J. Nematology 50:9-26. DOI: 10.21307/jofnem-2018-004