Little is known about the occurrence and distribution of trichodorid nematodes in Italy. In 1966 Van Hoof et al. reported the occurrence of Trichodorus viruliferus, Paratrichodorus teres (syn. Trichodorus teres) and P. nanus (syn. Trichodorus nanus) in a survey of the spread of tobacco rattle virus in the northern regions of Italy. Trichodorus viruliferus was also found in Piedmont (Roca et al., 1977; Mancini et al., 1979) and Umbria (Roca et al., 1984) and Paratrichodorus tunisiensis was detected in samples collected from artichoke fields in Sicily (Roca and Rana, 1981). Mancini et al. (1979) also reported T. aequalis from Piedmont but after more detailed study it was described by De Waele et al. (1982) as a new species, T. taylori. The same authors mapped the distribution of T. spars us in northern and central Italy. A survey of Trichodoridae was carried out in the Italian regions in the years 1971-1973. The species found are briefly described here, with comments on their biometrics and geographical distribution.
