COST Action 819:Entomopathogenic nematodes, supercedes Action 812:Cold active lines of insect parasitic nematodes in Agriculture and Biotechnology. It functions in the field of Agriculture and Biotechnology and began in July 1994 and will end in May, 1999. The main objective is to combine interrelated European expertise to increase the use of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) in integrated pest management and to reduce the need for chemical control. Coordination of the Action is the responsibility of a management committee in accordance with a Memorandum of Understanding, which has been signed by representatives of 17 countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. A research institute in Israel is also participating. Over 40 research institutions and 10 commercial companies participate in Action 819. The EU funding meets the costs related to coordination including the scientific secretariat, workshops, management committee and working group meetings, publications, short term scientific missions and evaluations.

SUMMARY: In Russia, both alveolar and cystic echinococcoses are endemic. This study aimed to identify the aetiological agents of the diseases and to investigate the distribution of eachEchinococcusspecies in Russia. A total of 75Echinococcusspecimens were collected from 14 host species from 2010 to 2012. Based on the mitochondrial DNA sequences, they were identified asEchinococcus granulosussensu stricto (s.s.),E. canadensisandE. multilocularis. E. granulosuss.s. was confirmed in the European Russia and the Altai region. Three genotypes, G6, G8 and G10 ofE. canadensiswere detected in Yakutia. G6 was also found in the Altai region. Four genotypes ofE. multiloculariswere confirmed; the Asian genotype in the western Siberia and the European Russia, the Mongolian genotype in an island of Baikal Lake and the Altai Republic, the European genotype from a captive monkey in Moscow Zoo and the North American genotype in Yakutia. The present distributional record will become a basis of public health to control echinococcoses in Russia. The rich genetic diversity demonstrates the importance of Russia in investigating the evolutionary history of the genusEchinococcus.

Eighty four new and four published ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 sequences of rDNA obtained from different populations of 24 nominal species and 28 isolates of 16 putative Steinernema species were analysed using the maximum parsimony method. In most of the phylogenetic trees obtained from different ITS alignments and phylogenetic procedures, the 84 isolates formed five main, highly or moderately supported, clades, viz Clade I: 'affine-intermedium'; Clade II: 'carpocapsae-scapterisci-tami'; Clade III: 'feltiae-krausseioregonense'; Clade IV: 'bicornutum-ceratophorum-riobrave'; and Clade V: 'arenarium-glaseri-karii-longicaudum'. The ITS rDNA data were found to be of little utility in resolving relationships between these clades, but were useful in studying relationships between species within certain clades. The level of intra-specific variability was different between clades with sequence divergence of 2.4-2.8% of ITS rDNA for some species. Analysis of a combined data matrix of both molecular and morphological features was performed with six qualitative and three quantitative features.

Summary: Despite nematodes being the most abundant animals on earth, very few animal ecologists study them, probably because of the difficulties of identifying them to species by morphological methods. A group of nematodes that are important both ecologically and economically is the entomopathogenic nematodes, which play a key role in regulating soil food webs and are sold throughout the world as biological insecticides, yet for which very little is known of their population ecology. A novel detection and quantification method was developed for soil nematodes using real‐time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and the technique was used to estimate numbers of two closely related species of entomopathogenic nematodes, Steinernema kraussei and S. affine in 50 soil samples from 10 sites in Scotland representing two distinct habitats (woodland and grassland). There was a high degree of correlation between our molecular and traditional morphological estimates of population size and our data clearly showed that Steinernema affine occurred only in grassland areas, whereas S. kraussei was found in grassland and woodland samples to a similar degree. Real‐time PCR offers a rapid and accurate method of detecting individual nematode species from soil samples without the need for a specialist taxonomist, and has much potential for use in studies of nematode population ecology.