Migration of Longidorus elongatus, Xiphinema diversicaudatum and Ditylenchus dipsaci in soil

Abstract

Nematode movement in soil is dependent on the physical and chemical properties of the medium (Pitcher, 1975). However, different species move at different rates. For example, it has been estimated that Xiphinema diversicaudatum (Micoletzky) Thorne spread from a hedge into woodland at an average rate of 30 cm per year over a period of 75 years (Harrison and Winslow, 1961); Radopholus similis (Cobb) Thorne migrated 15 m per year in citrus groves and 21 cm per month experimentally on Solanum nigrum L. (Suit and Ducharme, 1953; O'Bannon and Tomerlin, 1969); and Globodera rostochiensis (Woll.) Mulvey et Stone males rarely exceeded 1 cm in 5 to 12 h in response to the presence of white females of the same species (Evans, 1969). The horizontal and vertical movement in soil, and their association with different hosts, of the virus-vector ectoparasites Longidorus elongatus (de Man) Thorne et Swanger and X. diversicaudatum, and of the smaller stem endoparasite Ditylenchus dipsaci (Kuhn) Filipjev were investigated experimentally, to compare their rates of movement.