Re: CULT: "beneficial nematodes"

Simone said:

<<  I think I mentioned  before when this topic came up that I thought it
would be very unlikely that  foliar spaying would kill iris borers currently
in fans, you must spray the  soil when the larvae are there, so timing is
very important. >>

Simone, please, would you expect the pupae to be vulnerable in the soil?
Would you expect the nematodes to be able to attack the larva in the rhizome
if the rhizome had not been opened to the soil by the chewing larva? If not,
do I understand correctly that the only time the insect is vulnerable to the
nematodes would be during the period between the time the larva leaves the
rhizome and burrows into the soil, and the time it enters into pupation? 

Also, should there be any concern about introducing quantities of such alien
and possibly artificially engineered life forms into an ecosystem? Can they
mutate? All my instincts say this is screwing around with the natural order
of things, so to speak, and so it is suspect on the face of it.

The previous discussions of this subject may be followed in the Archives at:

http://www.mallorn.com/lists/iris-l/

Just search and use that fine keyword "nematodes."

Anner Whitehead, Richmond, Va
Henry Hall  henryanner@aol.com
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