Ditylenchus		Contents		Rev 08/11/2011
Stem and bulb nematodes		Classification		Hosts
		Morphology and Anatomy		Life Cycle
Return to Ditylenchus Menu		Economic Importance		Damage
		Distribution		Management
Return to Anguinidae Menu		Feeding		References
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Classification:

  Tylenchida
   Tylenchina
    Tylenchoidea
     Anguinidae
      Anguininae
          Ditylenchus (Filip'ev, 1936)

    Synonyms:
          Anguillulina (Ditylenchus) (Filip'ev, 1936)
          Nothotylenchus (Thorne, 1941)
          Boleodoroides (Mathur, Khan and Prasad, 1966)
          Diptenchus (Khan, Chawla and Seshadri, 1969)
          Safianema (Siddiqi, 1980)
          Orrina (Brzeski, 1981)

Genus described in 1934, but includes one of oldest known plant parasites:  (Anguillula dipsaci - Kuhn 1857).  

Ditylenchus spp. are related to the leaf and seed gall nematodes, Anguina spp.

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Morphology and Anatomy:

	Typical characters of Anguinidae.    Short stylet.  Plant-feeding species generally have slightly longers stylet (10-14µm) than fungal-feeding species. Median bulb with or without valve; isthmus not separated from glandular bulb by a constriction. Postcorpus short; esophagus short and butting intestine esophagus, or long - when long, may overlap the intestine.   Female:  Single ovary directed forward, short or long, sometimes reaching esophageal region and/or flexed; oocytes in one/two rows; columned uterus with four rows of four cells; post-uterine sac (PUS) present or absent. Mature female may be slightly swollen.
Female gonad with post-uterine sac.
Male: Testis usually without flexures. Caudal alae present and leptoderan, short adanal or long, but never reaching tail end. [Ref: Fortuner & Maggenti (1987).]

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Distribution:

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Economic Importance:

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Feeding:

Non-derived, migratory ectoparasites and endoparasites of stems, bulbs, and tubers.

Obligate parasite of higher and lower plants and/or fungi, found in soil or above ground.

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Hosts:

For an extensive list of host plant species and their susceptibility to this genus, copy the genus name

Ditylenchus

select Nemabase Genus Search and paste the name in the Genus box

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Life Cycle:

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Damage:

Effect of clover race of Ditylenchus dipsaci on leaves of red clover, Trifolium pratense (healthy leaf on right).

Photograph by Chris Hogger (Switzerland).

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Management:

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References:

Fortuner & Maggenti, Rev. Nematol. 10:163-176 (1987).

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Copyright © 1999 by Howard Ferris.
Revised: August 11, 2011.