Effects of red-headed in sawfly, Neodiprion lecontei, nuclear polyhedrosis virus on rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri, and Daphnia pulex.
The effects of a nuclear polyhedrosis virus (NPV) of the red-headed pine sawfly, Neodiprion lecontei, on rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri, were investigated. The fish were exposed to this virus by intubation and topical application and no ill-effects were observed. Similarly, no ill-effects were detected in Daphnia pulex when the same NPV was added to their culture medium. The materials were lyophilized, NPV-infected sawfly larvae (normally used for insect control), lyophilized, uninfected larvae and purified, polyhedral inclusion bodies. On the basis of these laboratory tests, this virus, when disseminated as a biocontrol agent, should present no hazard to rainbow trout or to the aquatic invertebrate Daphnia pulex, two species frequently used in toxicity tests of chemical pesticides.