HOST SUITABILITY OF 12 LEGUMINOSAE SPECIES TO POPULATIONS OF MELOIDOGYNE-HAPLA AND MELOIDOGYNE-CHITWOODI

Legumes of the genera Astragalus (milkvetch), Coronilla (crownvetch), Lathyrus (pea vine), Lotus (birdsfoot trefoil), Medicago (alfalfa), Me lilotus (clover), Trifolium (clover), and Vicia (common vetch) were in oculated with a population of Meloidogyne chitwoodi from Utah or with one of three M. hapla populations from California, Utah, and Wyoming. Thirty-nine percent to 86% of alfalfa (M. scutellata) and 10% to 55% o f red clover (T. pratense) plants survived inoculation with the nemato de populations at a greenhouse temperature of 24 +/- 3 degrees C. All plants of the other legume species survived all nematode populations, except 4% of the white clover (T. repens) plants inoculated with the C alifornia M. hapla population. Entries were usually more susceptible t o the M. hapla populations than to M. chitwoodi. Galling of host roots differed between nematode populations and species. Root-galling indic es (1 = none, 6 = severely galled) ranged from 1 on pea vine inoculate d with the California population of M. hapla to 6 on yellow sweet clov er inoculated with the Wyoming population of M. hapla. The nematode re productive factor (Rf = final nematode population/initial nematode pop ulation) ranged from 0 for all nematode populations on pea vine to 35 for the Wyoming population of M. hapla on alfalfa (M. sativa).