Bovicola ovis

Entomopathogenic nematodes as biological control agents for sheep lice, Bovicola ovis by Ganpati Jagdale

Biological control of sheep lice, Bovicola ovis with entomopathogenic nematodes Four entomopathogenic nematodes including Steinernema carpocapsae, Steinernema riobrave, Steinernema feltiae and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora have showed a very high efficacy against sheep lice, Bovicola ovis when tested under laboratory conditions at different incubation temperatures (James et al., 2010).  However,  the efficacy all the four species of entomopathogenic nematodes varied with the nematode species and incubation temperature.

For more information on the interaction between entomopathogenic nematodes and sheep lice read following paper.

  1. James, P. J., Hook, S.E. and Pepper, P. M. 2010. In vitro infection of sheep lice (Bovicola ovis Schrank) by Steinernematid and Heterorhabditid nematodes. Veterinary Parasitology 174: 85-91.