327 © CAB International 2017. Biocontrol Agents: Entomopathogenic and Slug Parasitic Nematodes (eds. M.M.M. Abd-Elgawad, T.H. Askary and J. Coupland) 16.1 Introduction Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) are one of the highly influential biocontrol agents regulating the population dynamics of insect pests through associa- tion with their hosts in relationships ranging from fortuitous to parasitic. Knowledge of nematode community is useful to interpret the host–parasite relationships, and in many cases to illustrate co- evolution phenomena and to determine those poten- tial biocontrol agents against major pests of health and agricultural interest. The Republic of Argentina is located in the Southern Cone of South America. Due to its large area, the latitude is characterized by distinct forms of relief: the mountains to the west and the plateaus, plains and depressions eastwards. This country pre- sents a great diversity of climates and soils where the livestock and agriculture constitute the main economic activities. The quantity and quality of agri- cultural performance place Argentina as an impor- tant food producer that corresponds mostly with the sown area of cereals. The most widespread are wheat and maize, besides oats, barley, rice and sorghum. Also, oil and fibre plants, sugarcane, grapes, mate, tea, snuff, fruit and vegetables are grown. Within this context, several studies have been performed in Argentina with the aim of isolating entomonematodes as biocontrol agents of pests of public health and agricultural importance. A great diversity of species has been reported as the result of research carried out during the past 35 years. The studies focused mainly on the description of numer- ous species, determination of biological cycles, ecol- ogy of pathogenic species and dynamics in natural conditions, mainly for Mermithidae, Thelastomatidae, Rhabditidae and EPNs Heterorhabditidae and Steinernematidae (Doucet, 1986; Doucet and Bertolotti, 1996; Lax et al., 2011; Achinelly and Micieli, 2013; Del Valle et al., 2013; Camino et al., 2014; Belaich et al., 2015; Di Battista et al., 2015). However, the research of this group of parasites was not commen- surate to its potential. The lack of legislation regard- ing the regulation and registration requirements of different groups of bioproducts, the development of criteria or policy recommendations for studies to field or releases of new bioproducts, along with the weakening of the economy, have restricted the growth of this topic in Argentina. For these reasons, the studies have been limited mainly to laboratory stage or small field scale, leaving the development of entomonematodes as biocontrol agents in this country still incipient. This chapter presents the results of research under- taken in Argentina and the current status of the potential use of entomonematodes as biologic con- trol agents. Our main emphasis is inclined towards the two EPNs, Steinernema and Heterorhabditis, and their status in integrated pest management (IPM) in Argentina. The information presented joins the most relevant bibliographic information from the 16 Status of Entomopathogenic Nematodes in Integrated Pest Management Strategies in Argentina MARÍA FERNANDA ACHINELLY,* NORA CAMINO, DAIANA ELICECHE, AUGUSTO SALAS AND MATÍAS RUSCONI Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectores, CEPAVE (CCT La Plata CONICET - UNLP), Buenos Aires, Argentina *Corresponding author. E-mail: fachinelly@cepave.edu.ar ©CAB International 2017 – for chapter 16 authors.