Ditylenchus		Contents		Rev 07/17/2026
Stem and bulb nematodes		Classification		Hosts
		Morphology and Anatomy		Life Cycle
Return to Ditylenchus Menu		Economic Importance		Damage
		Distribution		Management
Return to Anguinidae Menu		Feeding		References
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Classification:

  Chromadorea
       Rhabditida
       Tylenchina
    Tylenchoidea
     Anguinidae
      Anguininae

          Ditylenchus Filip'ev, 1936

Type species of the genus: Ditylenchus dipsaci (Kuhn, 1857) Filipjev, 1936,

    Synonyms:
          Anguillulina (Ditylenchus) (Filip'ev, 1936)
          Boleodoroides (Mathur, Khan and Prasad, 1966)
          Diptenchus (Khan, Chawla and Seshadri, 1969)
          Safianema (Siddiqi, 1980)
          Orrina (Brzeski, 1981)

Genus described in 1934, but includes one of oldest known plant parasites:  Ditylenchus dipsaci (described as Anguillula dipsaci by Kuhn, 1857). Ditylenchus spp (sensu lato) are related to the leaf and seed gall nematodes, Anguina spp  Most species of the genus are thought to live in soil as fungal feeders. However, some are important plant parasites. 

In a recent revision of the genus based on phylogenetic analysis of the D2 and D3 of 28S rRNA gene seuences, , Subbotina and Ryss (2024) transferred many of the species of the genus Ditylenchus to two new genera: Ditylenchoides and Paraditylenchus, and to Zeatylenchus. However, Ditylenchus angutsus remained in the genus Ditylenchus with plant-feeding species that induce galling or result in defrormation of plant tissues.

Species retained in the genus Ditylenchus include Ditylenchus dipsaci (Kuhn, 1857) Filipjev, 1936, (type species of the genus), D. angustus, D. chacrophyllum, D. dryadis, D. falcariae, D. galeopsidis, D. gigas, D. laurae, D. oncogenus,  D. paraoncogenus , D. sonchophilus, D. tobaensis and D. weischeri.

Several plant-parasitic species were considered, basesd on the molecular analyses to be Ditylenchus-like and were transferred to the new genus Ditylenchoides which has type species Ditylenchoides destructor (Thorne, 1945) Subbotin & Rhyss, 2024.  Other species tranferred to that new genus include . Those  include D. africanus, and  D. arachis, D. myceliophagus and others (Subbotin and Rhyss, 2024).

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Morphology and Anatomy:

Characteristics of the genus per Subbotin and Ryss, 2024:

• Female body 0.9-2.2 mm, almost straight or slightly curved ventrally, mature adults slender.
• Lip region continuous with body contour, high, cephalic framework moderately sclerotised.
• Median bulb muscular, with strongly refractive valve. Basal bulb with 0.5 or less overlapping intestine, dorsal and subventral gland nuclei anterior to pharyngealintestinal junction.
• Secretory-excretory pore at posterior half of isthmus to anterior conical or middle part of basal bulb.
• Lateral field with 4 or rarely 6 incisures.
• Ovary straight, without distinct flexures, its posterior part with one row of oocytes. Spermatheca elongate, with small sperm cells with nuclei occupying most of cells. Crustaformeria in a form of quadricolumella, four row of four cells each.
• Vulva is a transverse slit, vagina perpendicular to ventral body wall. Post-vulval uterine sac more than 3 times longer than vulval body diam.
• Female tail conical with pointed to mucronate terminus.
• Male bursa leptoderan, adanal to subterminal, not reaching tail tip. Testis outstretched.
• Parasites of higher plants inducing swellings and deformations of plant tissues. Infective stages are juveniles and adults. Distributed in temperate regions.

	Typical characters of Anguinidae.    Short stylet.  Plant-feeding species generally have slightly longers stylet (10-14µm) than fungal-feeding species. Median bulb with or without valve; isthmus not separated from glandular bulb by a constriction. Postcorpus short; esophagus short and butting intestine esophagus, or long - when long, may overlap the intestine.   Female:  Single ovary directed forward, short or long, sometimes reaching esophageal region and/or flexed; oocytes in one/two rows; columned uterus with four rows of four cells; post-uterine sac (PUS) present or absent. Mature female may be slightly swollen.
Female gonad with post-uterine sac.
Male: Testis usually without flexures. Caudal alae present and leptoderan, short adanal or long, but never reaching tail end. [Ref: Fortuner & Maggenti (1987).]
Body size range for the species of this genus in the database - Click:

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Distribution:

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Economic Importance:

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Feeding:

Food Sources and Feeding strategies for the genus Ditylenchus

Non-derived, migratory ectoparasites and endoparasites of stems, bulbs, and tubers.

Obligate parasite of higher and lower plants and/or fungi, found in soil or above ground.

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Hosts:

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Life Cycle:

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Damage:

Effect of clover race of Ditylenchus dipsaci on leaves of red clover, Trifolium pratense (healthy leaf on right).

Photograph by Chris Hogger (Switzerland).

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Management:

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References:

Fortuner & Maggenti, Rev. Nematol. 10:163-176 (1987).

Skwiercz, A.T., Kornobis, F.W., Winiszewska, G., Przybylska, A., Obrepalska-Steplowska, A., Gawlak, M. & Subbotin, S.A. 2017. Ditylenchus laurae n. sp. (Tylenchida: Anguinidae) from Poland: a new species of the D. dipsaci complex associated with a water plant, Potamogeton perfoliatus L. Nematology 19: 197-209. DOI: 10.1163/15685411-0000304

Subbotin, S.A. and Ryss, A.Y. 2024. Revision of the genus Ditylenchus Filipjev, 1936: Ditylenchoides gen. n. and Paraditylenchus gen. n. (Nematoda: Anguinoidea). Russian Journal of Nematology, 32: 91-102.

Vovlas, N., Troccoli, A., Palomares-Rius, J.E., De Luca, F., Liebanas, G., Landa, B.B., Subbotin, S.A. & Castillo, P. (2011). Ditylenchus gigas n. sp. parasitizing broad bean: a new stem nematode singled out from the Ditylenchus dipsaci species complex using a polyphasic approach with molecular phylogeny. Plant Pathology 60: 762-775. DOI: 10.1111/j. 1365-3059.2011.02430.x

Zhang, S.L., Liu, G.K., Janssen, T., Zhang, S.S., Xiao, S., Li, S.T. & Bert, W. 2014. A new stem nematode associated with peanut pod rot in China: morphological and molecular characterization of Ditylenchus arachis n. sp. (Nematoda: Anguinidae). Plant Pathology 63: 1193-1206. DOI: 10.1111/ PPA.12183

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Copyright © 1999 by Howard Ferris.
Revised: July 17, 2026.