HETERORHABDITIS  TAYSEARAE

Shamseldean, El-Sooud, Abd-Elgawad & Saleh, 1996

 

Measurement

See Table 1

Description

 

Males (Fig. 1)

 

Body curved ventrally posteriorly when relaxed, or killed. Head truncate, or rarely slightly rounded. Six distinct protruding lips surrounding the mouth with 6 papillae on the inner lips Amphids oval. Cheilorhabdions present as a retractile ring just below the lips. Pro- and mesorhabdions reduced, bearing a large tooth near the posterior end of protorhabdions. The pharynx with fairly indistinct metacorpus but with a short isthmus and obvious basal bulb contain­ing fine striations in the valve area. Nerve ring dis­tinct, located at the anterior part of the isthmus in males and females. Testis single, reflexed, spicules paired, separated, curved and with pointed tips. Gubernaculum almost half the length of spicules, relatively broad and curved. Bursa peloderan with 9 pairs of genital papillae. From anterior to posterior, pair 1 well anterior, pairs 2 and 3 in a group right anterior to cloaca; pairs 4, 5 and 6 forming a group, just posterior to cloaca. Pairs 7 and 8, not reaching rim of bursal membrane. The rest of the genital papillae are straight and reach the bursal rim.

 

Females (Fig. 2)

            Anterior part is similar to that of male but much larger. Hermaphroditic and amphimictic females with paired, amphidelphic ovaries always with re-flexed portion extending past the vulvar opening. Hermaphroditic females with sperms occurring in the proximal portion of the ovotestis; amphimictic fe­males with sperms in the proximal portion of the ovi­duct. Vulval region protuberant without copulation plug. Anal swelling is more pro­nounced in hermaphroditic than amphimictic fe­males. The rectum slightly sclerotized.           

 

Third stage infective juveniles (Fig. 3)

               Body length average of the third stage ju­veniles (inside second stage cuticles) are shorter than that of previously published species. Tail length is too short, cuticle with fine longitudinal striations. Mouth and anus closed. Opening of excre­tory pore located above level of basal bulb. Nerve ring in the anterior part of isthmus. The lips of the third stage juveniles contain a faint dorsal tooth. The stoma walls are opened and not collapsed at the base. The outer second stage cuticle is closely oppressed to the third stage cuticle. The hemizonid distinct. The ven­tricular portion of the intestine is devoid of intestinal cells and forms an intestinal pouch which is filled with the symbiotic bacteria. These bacteria occur in the intestinal lumen, mainly in the anterior portion.

 

Diagnostic characters

 

           This nematode is characterised by the short body of infective juvenile 418 (332-499) μm, short tail length 55 (44-70) μm, and high value of E (1.8). Excretory pore of the male was reported to be anterior to base of esophagus.

 

Type host and locality

The nematode was collected from soil in Al-Husane village in West Nubaria, Behera governorate, Egypt.

 

 Type material

Holotype: Amphimictic female isolated from the hemocoel of G. mellonella Last instar larvae (Lepidoptera: Galleridae), infected by the nematodes through the exposure to the above-mentioned soil samples. The slide is deposited in the Nematode col­lection at Faculty of Agriculture, University of Cairo, Egypt.

 

Distribution

            The nematode was found in Egypt (Shamseldean, El-Sooud, Abd-Elgawad & Saleh, 1996).

 

Reference

 

Shamseldean, M.M., Abou El-Sooud, A.B., Abd-Elgawad, M.M.  & Saleh, M.M. (1996). Identification of a new heterorhabditid species from Egypt, Heterorhabditis 

taysearae, n. sp.(Rhabditroa: Heterorhabdrndae). Egyptian Journal of Biological Pest Control 6, 129-138