Keywords
How to Cite
Abstract
These large nematodes can sometimes be seen leaving grasshoppers, especially those that have been injured. On rainy mornings in spring or summer they can be found depositing their eggs on leaves for grasshoppers to eat. Because they are so large (up to 160 mm or about 6 inches in length), they attract attention. Learn more in this 5-page fact sheet written by John L. Capinera and published by the UF Department of Entomology and Nematology, August 2011. Reviewed August 2014.
EENY500/IN900: Grasshopper Nematode: Mermis nigrescens Dujardin, 1842 (ufl.edu)
References
Baker GL, Capinera JL. 1997. Nematodes and nematomorphs as control agents of grasshoppers and locusts. Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada 171: 157-211. https://doi.org/10.4039/entm129171157-1
Baylis HA. 1944. Observations on the nematode Mermis nigrescens and related species. Parasitology 36: 122-132. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0031182000012063
Baylis HA. 1947. The larval stages of the nematode Mermis nigrescens. Parasitology 38: 10-16. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0031182000016371
Bland RG. 1976. Effect of parasites and food plants on the stability of a population of Melanoplus femurrubrum. Environmental Entomology 5: 724-728. https://doi.org/10.1093/ee/5.4.724
Briand LJ, Rivard I. 1964. Observations sur Mermis subnigrescens Cobb (Mermithidae), nematode parasite des criquets au Québec. Phytoprotection 45: 73-76.
Burr AHJ, Babinski CPF, Ward AJ. 1990. Components of phototaxis of the nematode Mermis nigrescens. Journal of Comparative Physiology A. Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology 167: 245-255. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00188117
Capinera JL. 1987. Observations on natural and experimental parasitism of insects by Mermis nigrescens Dujardin (Nematoda: Mermithidae). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 60: 159-162.
Christie JR. 1937. Mermis subnigrescens, a nematode parasite of grasshoppers. Journal of Agricultural Research 55: 353-364.
Craig SM, Webster JM. 1982. Influence of host nutrients on the parasitic development of Mermis nigrescens (Mermithidae). Journal of Nematology 14: 398-405.
Gans C, Burr AHJ. 1994. Unique locomotory mechanism of Mermis nigrescens, a large nematode that crawls over soil and climbs through vegetation. Journal of Morphology 222: 133-148. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmor.1052220203
Mongkolkiti S, Hosford RM Jr. 1971. Biological control of the grasshopper Hesperotettix viridis pratensis by the nematode Mermis nigrescens. Journal of Nematology 3: 356-363.
Nickle WR. 1971. A contribution to our knowledge of the Mermithidae (Nematoda). Journal of Nematology 4: 113-146.
Nickle WR. 1973. Identification of insect parasitic nematodes - a review. Experimental Parasitology 33: 303-317. https://doi.org/10.1016/0014-4894(73)90035-0
Poinar GO Jr. 1979. Nematodes for biological control of insects. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.
Webster JM, Thong CHS. Nematode parasites of orthopterans. Pages 697-726 In Nickle WR (editor) Plant and insect nematodes. Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York.