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by claude@2026-07, 2026-07-04
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The study assessed the impact of two commercial biocontrol nematodes, Pellioditis (Phasmarhabditis) hermaphrodita and Pellioditis (Phasmarhabditis) californica, on the Pacific banana slug Ariolimax columbianus using laboratory infectivity assays across juvenile and adult life stages. The key finding was that P. hermaphrodita caused 100% mortality in both juvenile and adult slugs, while P. californica caused significant mortality only in juveniles (80%) and much lower effects in adults (4%), compared with low control mortality. The authors explicitly frame the work around uncertainty about North American distribution and non-target/native species effects, and the limitation is that results come from laboratory conditions rather than field ecology. Relevance to endometriosis: This paper does not explicitly discuss endometriosis or adenomyosis; it was included in the corpus via a keyword match in the upstream search index.
Abstract
Gastropods are a highly diverse and often overlooked taxonomic group of significant ecological and economic importance. Some terrestrial gastropods are critical pests of commercial agriculture and home gardens worldwide. Malacopathogenic nematodes offer an effective biological control method of managing pest slugs and snails as a ‘natural enemy’. Pellioditis (syn. Phasmarhabditis ) hermaphrodita and Pellioditis (syn. Phasmarhabditis ) californica are two species of biocontrol nematodes that have been commercialized, sold as Nemaslug® and Nemaslug® 2.0 respectively on three continents. Although there is interest in bringing Nemaslug® products to the US, they are currently not permitted due to limited knowledge on their North American distribution and effects on non-target and native species. In this study, we investigated the impact of P. hermaphrodita and P. californica on Ariolimax columbianus across two slug-host life stages, in laboratory infectivity assays. The objectives were to 1. determine whether P. hermaphrodita and P. californica nematodes impact survival of A. columbianus , and 2. evaluate whether there are differential effects on survival in juvenile and adult life stages of A. columbianus , in laboratory infectivity trials. We found that P. hermaphrodita caused significant mortality in A. columbianus with 100% mortality observed in both juvenile and adult slug hosts. The P. californica treatment had significant effects on the juvenile A. columbianus group only, with 80% mortality. By contrast, only 16% of unexposed control juveniles and 4% of control adult slugs died during the experiment. These results indicate that P. hermaphrodita and P. californica are lethal to the native, non-target Pacific banana slug ( A. columbianus ) under laboratory conditions, with mortality differing between juvenile and adult host life stages. Given the ecological importance of A. columbianus , these findings raise concerns for potential non-target effects of P. californica and P. hermaphrodita on terrestrial gastropod communities and emphasize the need for testing biocontrol agents against multiple life stages.
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Abstract
Gastropods are a highly diverse and often overlooked taxonomic group of significant ecological and economic importance. Some terrestrial gastropods are critical pests of commercial agriculture and home gardens worldwide. Malacopathogenic nematodes offer an effective biological control method of managing pest slugs and snails as a ‘natural enemy’. Pellioditis (syn. Phasmarhabditis) hermaphrodita and Pellioditis (syn. Phasmarhabditis) californica are two species of biocontrol nematodes that have been commercialized, sold as Nemaslug® and Nemaslug® 2.0 respectively on three continents. Although there is interest in bringing Nemaslug® products to the US, they are currently not permitted due to limited knowledge on their North American distribution and effects on non-target and native species. In this study, we investigated the impact of P. hermaphrodita and P. californica on Ariolimax columbianus across two slug-host life stages, in laboratory infectivity assays. The objectives were to 1. determine whether P. hermaphrodita and P. californica nematodes impact survival of A. columbianus, and 2. evaluate whether there are differential effects on survival in juvenile and adult life stages of A. columbianus, in laboratory infectivity trials. We found that P. hermaphrodita caused significant mortality in A. columbianus with 100% mortality observed in both juvenile and adult slug hosts. The P. californica treatment had significant effects on the juvenile A. columbianus group only, with 80% mortality. By contrast, only 16% of unexposed control juveniles and 4% of control adult slugs died during the experiment. These results indicate that P. hermaphrodita and P. californica are lethal to the native, non-target Pacific banana slug (A. columbianus) under laboratory conditions, with mortality differing between juvenile and adult host life stages. Given the ecological importance of A. columbianus, these findings raise concerns for potential non-target effects of P. californica and P. hermaphrodita on terrestrial gastropod communities and emphasize the need for testing biocontrol agents against multiple life stages.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
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