How do insect parasitic nematodes work?
The nematodes live in the soil where they locate their hosts. The nematode infective stage enters the insect and begins to feed on its blood and internal organs. Soon after it begins to feed, it releases unique bacteria that it carries internally. The bacteria infect the insect, reproduce quickly, and kill the insect within 30 to 48 hours. The nematode thrives upon this food which becomes a decaying insect being broken down by the unique bacteria. The nematode forms an adult stage and begins to produce thousands of eggs. These eggs mature and about 2-3 generations of nematodes are produced in the decaying insect. Reproduction continues until the nematodes sense that the decaying insect will not support further reproduction by the nematode. At that time, all of the nematode offspring mature only to the infective juvenile stage and begin to emerge from the host insect to look for more viable, live insects to infect. The infective juvenile, IJ3, is the third nymphal stage of the nematode
