Fecundity of Aphelenchus Avenae Bastian

Abstract

Little is known about the various factors that determine the rate of reproduction of plant parasitic and free-living nematodes. The available data on the life span of females, the number of eggs laid, and the rate of egg-laying are based on total egg counts from single females or rates of egg-laying over short periods. Assessment of egg production in migratory ectoparasitic plant nematodes is also technically difficult because, unlike sedentary endoparasitic nematodes, the eggs are deposited at random in soil. Aphelenchu8 avenae Bastian, 1865, although a parasite of higher plants (Chin and Estey 1966), is easily cultured on many fungi (Townshend 1964) and so offers a ready means of studying fecundity in migratory species.