LABORATORY METHODS USED FOR THE STUDY OF THE ECOLOGY AND PATHOGENICITY OF TYLENCHIDA, LONGIDORIDAE AND TRICHODORIDAE FROM RAINY AND SEMIARID TROPICS OF WEST-AFRICA

Description is given of the methods used in the laboratory for i) cult uring soil plant-parasitic nematodes, ii) determination of the effects of soil temperature, soil moisture, and host plants on their multipli cation rate, iii) determination of their ability to survive soil desic cation and to enter anhydrobiosis during the dry season, iv) their lif e cycle and v) their potential pathogenicity. Culturing was tested for 54 species and successful with 45 of them. For the nine remaining spe cies, the host plant cannot be determined for four species owing to th e low numbers of available specimens; the other five species were prob ably mycetophagous.