Statistical study on Hemicriconemoides mangiferae Siddiqi (Nematoda)

Abstract

Sixteen females of Hemicriconemoides mangiferae Siddiqi, 1963, were used to study the relationship between spear and tail length (measured from the latitude of anus to the tip of outer sheath). The total body length (measured from head up to the tip of the outer body cuticle) ranged from 430 to 590 um. The study revealed that the heterogonic coefficient of the tail (0.0740) is slightly higher than that of the spear (0.0678). Probably due to this allometry Geraert (1968) was unable to explain why the very long tail of Tylenchus agricola behaved differently from the very long tail of T. leptosoma; the same applied to the long tails of Basiria gracilis and Boleodorus thylactus. It is suggested that the evaluation of the degree of affinity in various body parts in adults as well as larvae of different size groups of nematode species may be helpful in indicating the effects of biotic and abiotic factors on the growth of the body components and on the nematode as a whole.