Ficophagus		Contents		Rev 12/17/2024
		Classification		Biology and Ecology
		Morphology and Anatomy		Life Cycle
Return to Ficophagus Menu				Ecosystem Functions and Services
		Distribution		Management
Return to Aphelenchoididae Menu		Feeding		References
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Classification:

      Chromadorea
       Rhabditida
       Tylenchina
         Aphelenchoidea
          Aphelenchoididae
           Aphelenchoidinae

            Ficophagus Davies, Ye, Kanzaki, Bartholomaeus, Zeng & Giblin-Davis, 2015

Type species of the genus: Ficophagus aureus DeCrappeo & Giblin-Davis, 2001

Synonyms:

• Schistonchus
• Martininema

Note: Davies et al., 2017 transferred most of the species described under the gaenus Schistonchus by Bajaj and Tomar (2014) to Ficophagus

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Morphology and Anatomy:

Schistonchus is characterised by having the excretory pore opening in the region of, or posterior to, the metacorpus; Ficophagus  by having the excretory pore opening very near the cephalic region; and Martininema  by having it opening at the anterior end of the metacorpus. Several species of Schistonchus have a labial disc but there is no evidence of a labial disc in either Ficophagus or Martininema (Davies et al., 2015)..

• Slender, 400- 1050 um long.
• Cuticle finely annulated. Two to five lateral lines or with many discontinuous lines.
• Cephalic region usually tapering but may be offset from body contour, cephalic framework hexaradiate, labial disc absent.
• Excretory pore opening near cephalic region.
• Stylet robust, 10-26 um long, with strong basal knobs, conus 40-75% of total stylet length.
• Esophagus with procorpus  ousually cylindroid, metacorpus strong, aphelenchoid, with post-median valve, dorsal gland lobe overlapping intestine.
•  Nerve ring just posterior to metacorpus.
•  Rectum a short narrow tube.
• Vulva a simple transverse slit at 60-95% of body length, usually with slightly protruding lips, rarely with anterior lip forming a flap over vulva.
• Vagina perpendicular to body wall or directed anteriorly.
• Genital tract monodelphic and prodelphic, ovary outstretched or flexed, usually extending to level of esophageal gland.
• Spermatheca usually distinct, post-uterine sac short or long.
• Female tail tip rounded or pointed, may be mucronate.
• Male tail region sharply recurved, spicules paired, separate, rose-thorn-shaped with prominent rostrum.
• No gubernaculum or caudal alae.
• Sperm amoeboid.
• Male tail short, conoid, may be mucronate, tip rounded; caudal papillae present.

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Distribution:

Frequently found associated with sycones (enclosed infrutescences) of Ficus spp.  Primarily associated with Ficus syconia and agaonid wasps. (Davies et al., 2015).

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Feeding:

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Biology and Ecology:

Ficophagus spp. are probably transported by fig wasps.

Many species of Ficophagus have been reported to grow and reproduce within the syconia of various Ficus spp..  Some Ficus spp. can host more than one species of Ficophagus (Bartholomaeus et al., 2012).

A fig syconium is an swollen fleshy receptacle which containing between 50 and 7000 ovaries, represented by florets, on its inner surface. It is closed off from most organisms by the ostiole. Syconia can be monoecious and contain mainly female florets, and produce seeds and pollen. or dioecious with male and female florets in different plants..

Iindividual florets inside the syconium are pollinated by fig wasps and then develop into achenes or drupes, in which the seeds are enclosed by a layer of endocarp. Consequently, the fig "fruit" is actually an enclosure contining many fruits (between ten and thousands depending on the species). 

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Life Cycle:

The nematodes feed on fig epidermal cells, mature and lay eggs which develop into males and females. These adults produce a new generation of entomophilic females which mate, and penetrate the new generation of female wasps. Thus when the wasps emerge, ready to seek fresh sycones, they carry fertilised entomophilic nematodes in their haemolymph. The pre-reproductive female nematode, which is the  dispersal stage of Ficophagus and related genera, use volatiles and cuticular hydrocarbons from the female pollinating wasps to select the appropriate wasp vector (Davies et al. 2015).

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Ecosystem Functions and Services:

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Management:

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References:

Bajaj, H.K. & Tomar, V.V.S. (2014). Descriptions of new and known species of Schistonchus Cobb, 1927 (Aphelenchida: Aphelenchoididae) from syconia of Ficus trees growing at Hisar, Haryana. Indian Journal of Nematology 44, 193-211.

Bartholomaeus, F., Davies, K.A., Ye, W. and Giblin-Davis, R.M. 2012. Schistonchus (Aphelenchoididae) from Ficus benjamini in Australia, with description of S. benjamiina sp.n. Nematology 13:1005-1013.