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Small plant-parasitic nematodes, 0.3mm long.
Females: Gravid female may swell anterior to vulva.
Strong stylet, usually about 36 µm.
Ovary single, outstretched.
| Males: Reduced, with stylet reduced or absent,
and probably do not feed.
Often their starved bodies are marked by characteristic banding patterns as food reserves are depleted.
East coast and midwestern U.S., Canada, Europe, New Zealand, and the Soviet Union.
J2 and J3 feed; J4 has an incomplete stylet and molts to adult form after host stimulation. Nematodes insert stylet at or near base of root hairs and feed at one site for up to 6 days.
Cereals, grasses, ornamentals, celery, red clover, and cabbage.
For an extensive list of host plant species and their susceptibility, copy the name
select Nemabase and paste the name in the Genus and species box
Males and fourth-stage juveniles have no stylet and do not feed.
J4 is the persistent stage - molt of the J4 is stimulated by host root diffusate, for example, carnation root diffusate. The J4 do not molt to adults in water, but molt progressively over a 2 week period in carnation root diffusates (Rhoades and Linford, 1959).
In older pot cultures or field soils, the resistant J4 may be 80% of the population.
J4 distinguished from other stages by reduced or absent stylet and esophagus and accumulation of opaque granules in esophagus region (Rhoades and Linford, 1959).
Control is difficult by crop rotation due to wide host range, or by fallow soil (J4 survives several years).
Nematicides are not economical.
For a list of plant species or cultivars (if any) reported to be immune or to have some level of resistance to this nematode species, copy the name
select Nemabase Resistance Search and paste the name in the Genus and species box
Rhoades, H.L. and M.B. Linford. 1959. Molting of preadult nematodes of the genus Paratylenchus stimulated by root diffusates. Science 130: 1476-1477.