Subfamily MELOIDOGYNINAE

                                 Rev. 06/02/06

Classification:

      Tylenchida
       Tylenchina
        Tylenchoidea
         Heteroderidae
          Meloidogyninae (Skarbilovich, 1959)

Morphology and Anatomy:

• Cuticle not abnormally thick, annulated in all stages of the male and female. 
• Cephalic framework with medium sclerotization; lateral sectors equal to or wider than submedian sectors. 

Female:

• Sedentary, globose with projecting neck. 
• No pre-adult vermiform female stage. 
• Cuticle moderately thick; annulation forming fingerprint-like pattern around vulva and anus.
• Labial disc dumb-bell shaped, not detached from labial sectors. 
• Cephalic framework and spear delicate. 
• Excretory pore anterior to median esophageal bulb, often only slightly posterior to stylet base. 
• Vulva and anus terminal; perineal region flush or slightly raised. 
• No cyst stage. Eggs not retained in female body but deposited in a gelatinous matrix (exception: Meloidogyne spartinae where eggs are deposited individually without gelatinous matrix). 

Male:

• Labial area low, not set-off, irregularly annulated. 
• Lateral field with four lines. 

Juveniles:

• Second-stage juveniles migratory, vermiform. 
• Cephalic framework and spear delicate. 
• Labial area not set-off. 
• Late second-stage sedentary, swollen (spike-tailed). 
• Third and fourth stages occurring within the second stage cuticle, devoid of stylet.

 Biology:

• Sedentary, causing galls on roots. 
• Female inciting multinucleate nurse cells resulting from karyokinesis in the absence of cytokinesis.

References:

Luc, Maggenti & Fortuner, Rev. Nematol. 11:159-176 (1988).

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