Heterorhabditis is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of nematodes belonging to the order Rhabditida

Rhabditida

Rhabditida is an order of free-living, zooparasitic and phytoparasitic microbivorous nematodes .Order include 8 superfamilies.Diagnosis:...

. All species of this genus are obligate parasites of insects, and some are used as biological control

Biological pest control

Biological control of pests in agriculture is a method of controlling pests that relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or other natural mechanisms...

 agents for the control of pest insects.

Uses

The nematode species Heterorhabditis indica has been used effectively against the red weevil, Rhinotia haemoptera, an insect pest that can destroy groves and plantations of coconut and migrate to date palms and other palms, causing economic damage to farmers and landscapers.

Species

The currently (Nov 2008) recognized species in this genus are:

1. Heterorhabditis amazonensis Andaló, Nguyen & Moino, 2007
2. Heterorhabditis bacteriophora
   Heterorhabditis bacteriophora
   Heterorhabditis bacteriophora also known as beneficial nematodes is a species of nematode worm that is used in gardening. They are useful to thwart ants, fleas, moths, beetles, flies, beetles, and other pests. They release Xenorhabdus bacteria from their digestive tract thus killing these pests....
   
   Poinar, 1976
3. Heterorhabditis baujardi Phan, Subbotin, Nguyen & Moens, 2003
4. Heterorhabditis downesi Stock, Griffin & Burnell, 2002
5. Heterorhabditis floridensis Nguyen, Gozel, Koppenhöfer & Adams, 2006
6. Heterorhabditis georgiana Nguyen, Shapiro-Ilan and Mbata, 2008
7. Heterorhabditis indica Poinar, Karunakar & David, 1992
8. Heterorhabditis marelatus Liu & Berry, 1996
9. Heterorhabditis megidis Poinar, Jackson & Klein, 1987
10. Heterorhabditis mexicana Nguyen, Shapiro-Ilan, Stuart, McCoy, James & Adams, 2004
11. Heterorhabditis safricana Malan, Nguyen, de Waal and Tiedt, 2008
12. Heterorhabditis taysearae Shamseldean, El-Sooud, Abd-Elgawad & Saleh, 1996
13. Heterorhabditis zealandica Poinar, 1990