SUPPLEMENTARY FEMALE MORPHOLOGY AND MALE DESCRIPTION OF HELICOTYLENCHUS VARIOCAUDATUS FROM BANANA ROOTS

Abstract

The original description of Helicotylenchus variocaudatus (Luc, 1960) Fortuner, 1984, based on females only, is amplified and supplemented with the description of the male. All morphometric observations were of a bisexual population extracted from banana root tissues collected in São Tomè. This is a new geographical and host report of the species outside its type locality and the first record of the species with endoparasitic behaviour. All stages of nematode development were detected in the cortical tissues of banana roots in population densities 23-95 specimens/50 g of tissues with a female-male sex ratio 4:1. A compendium format key, referred to the eight Helicotylenchus species showing a regression of the posterior reproductive branch, is also presented to overcome difficulties in their identification.