A collaborative research project between Professor F. Lamberti, Bari, Italy and Dr. C. E. Taylor, Invergowrie, Dundee, Scotland, financed by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO grant No. 424) began in 1970. As part of this project a survey was completed in both countries to determine the geographical distribution of species of the family Longidoridae. The abiotic and biotic factors possibly influencing these distribution patterns were investigated for each species. The results of the survey in Britain have been published (Taylor and Brown, 1976) and data from the survey in Italy are being analysed. It was realised that to store, retrieve and finally to analyse the data obtained in a survey of the Longidoridae in Britain would require the utilisation of computer systems and techniques. The computer systems used and developed during the British survey (Topham et al., 1975) have been modified to allow for their more efficient and economical use at the micro or macro level. At macro level the systems is presently being used to investigate the geographical distribution of the Longidoridae in Europe. The following is an outline of the procedures used in several British nematode surveys and which can be adapted for use in other countries, or used on a wider scale as for the European Plant Parasitic Nematode Survey (EPPNS).
