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Meloidogyne minor Karssen et al. 2004 was collected from perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) growing in a sports ground in Christchurch, New Zealand. This is a new record for M. minor, the first report of this nematode occurring in New Zealand, and the second report from the southern hemisphere (after Chile). In general, the New Zealand isolate of M. minor corresponds well to the descriptions of M. minor given by Karssen et al. (2004). The New Zealand isolate is characterized by having a female with dorsally curved stylet, 13-14 μm long, with transversely ovoid knobs slightly sloping backwards from shaft; rounded perineal pattern; and male with stylet 16-19 μm long, large transversely ovoid knobs sloping slightly backwards from shaft; head region not set off, labial disc elevated, lateral lips prominent; and second stage juvenile 370-390 μm long, with hemizonid posterior but adjacent to excretory pore; tail 53-63 μm long; and a distinct hyaline tail terminus 14-18 μm long. In addition, molecular phylogeny using near full length small subunit (SSU), D2/D3 expansion segments of the large subunit (LSU), the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS1 and 2), and the intergenic spacer (IGS2) of the ribosomal rDNA supports the identification.

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Heliothis armiger confertus (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) was reared on an artificial diet in the laboratory. Larvae and pupae were reared at 25±1°C and 18:6 (LID) photoperiod, and adults were mated at an average of 20°C under natural light conditions. The average generation time was 38 days, with larval period 17.3 days, prepupal period 3.6 days, and pupal period 14.5 days. Other data are: average pupal weight -'( 401.5 mg, o 392.0 mg; average survival to pupa 84.9%; average survival to adult 65.4%; pre-oviposition period 2.7 days; fecundity 973 ± 121 eggs per female; adult lifespan approximately 12 days. The parasitoid Apanteles kazak (Telenga) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) was reared for several generations using H. a. confertus larvae as hosts. It took, on average, 19.3 days from oviposition to cocoon formation, and 26.8 and 29.0 days for adult male and female emergence respectively. Only 25.9% of the host larvae produced parasite cocoons, and 74.1 % of these produced adult parasitoids. Two Heliothis viruses were produced, with maximum yields for granulosis virus of 40 mg per larva and for nuclear polyhedrosis virus of 11.5 mg per larva.

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