IN-VITRO CULTURE AND FEEDING-BEHAVIOR OF BELONOLAIMUS-LONGICAUDATUS ON EXCISED ZEA-MAYS ROOTS

A greenhouse population of the sting nematode, Belonolaimus longicauda tus, obtained from an infested golf course in California's Coachella V alley, was surface-decontaminated and cultured on excised roots of La mays supported by Gamborg's B5 medium. At 26-27 degrees C the females laid eggs, and newly emerged juveniles of the second generation comple ted three molts within 29 days after egg deposition. Sixty days after inoculation with 60 females and 40 males, an average of 529 nematodes and 83 eggs were recovered from the culture. The feeding process consi sted of probing, stylet penetration, ingestion, and stylet retraction. Feeding seemed to be necessary before egg deposition or molting occur red. The sting nematode was observed feeding exclusively as an ectopar asite and preferably at the region of cell division and elongation. Vi gorous feeding by many nematodes usually caused discoloration of root tips and termination of growth.