Metarhabditis		Contents		Rev 04/01/2024
		Classification		Biology and Ecology
		Morphology and Anatomy		Life Cycle
Return to Metarhabditis Menu				Ecosystem Functions and Services
		Distribution		Management
Return to Rhabditidae Menu		Feeding		References
		Go to Nemaplex Main Menu		Go to Dictionary of Terminology

Classification:

Chromadorea

  Rhabditia

    Rhabditida

      Rhabditoidea

        Rhabditidae

Type species of the genus: Metarhabditis andrassyana Tahseen, Hussain, Tomar, Shah & Jairajpuri, 2004

   A genus of nematodes having parasitic or phoretic relationships with insects.

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Morphology and Anatomy:

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Distribution:

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Feeding:

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Biology and Ecology:

Many bacteriophagous rhabditids exploit bacterial colonies in animal feces, on carcasses, in frass of wood-inhabiting arthropods, or in dead and decaying matter (Osche 1963). Some dauer stages are transported by arthropods and other organisms to new substrates that support bacteria. Another group of rhabditids, the entomopathogens, develop parasitically in insect hosts and reproduce for several generations, untol the host dies. Species of Metarhabditis and Oscheius are considered to be necromenic associates of insects and feed on bacteria decmposing the carcass of the dead insect. However, recent studies suggest that both genera may be facultative entomopathogens and have potential as biocontrol agents (Ye et al. 2010; Ali et al. 2011; Asif et al., 2013; Dillman et al. 2012).

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Life Cycle:

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Ecosystem Functions and Services:

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Management:

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References:

Ali, S. S., Pervez, R., Andrabi, R., Sharma, R. and Verma, V. 2011. Oscheius amsactae n. sp. (Nematoda: Rhabditida), a necromenic associate of red hairy caterpillar, Amsacta moori (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) from Kanpur, India. Archives Phytopathology and Plant Protection 449:871-181.

Asif, M. Prasad, J.S., Khan, R., Somasekhar, N., Tahseen, Q. 2013. A revision of the genus Metarhabditis (Nematoda: Rhabditidae) with description of three known species, a key to the identification of congeners and discussion of their relationships. Journal of Natural History 47:2599-2622.

Bhat, A.H., Srivastava, S., Rana, A., Kumar, A.C., Macahdo, R.A.R.. Abolafia, J. 2020. Morphological, morphometrical, and molecular characterization of Metarhabditis amsactae (Ali, Pervez, Andrabi, Sharma and Verma, 2011) Sudhaus, 2011 (Rhabditida, Rhabditidae)from India and proposal of Metarhabditis longicaudata as a junior synonym of M. amsactae. J. Nematology 52: | DOI: 10.21307/jofnem-2020-116.

Dillman A.R, Chaston J.M, Adams B.J, Ciche T.A, Goodrich-Blair H, Stock S.P, Sternberg P.W. 2012. An entomopathogenic nematode by any other name. PLoS Pathog. 8:e1002527. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1002527.

Osche G. 1963. Morphological, biological, and ecological considerations in the phylogeny of parasitic nematodes. In: Dougherty E,C, editor. The Lower Metazoa, comparative biology and phylogeny. Berkeley (CA): University of California Press; p. 283-302

Sudhaus, W. 2011. Phylogenetic systematisation and catalogue of paraphyletic Rhabditidae (Secernentea, Nematoda). Journal of Nematode Morphology and Systematics 14:113-178.

Ye W, Torres-Barragan A, Cardoza YJ. 2010. Oscheius carolinensis n. sp. (Nematoda: Rhabditidae), a potential entomopathogenic nematode from vermicompost. Nematology. 12:121-135.

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Copyright  1999 by Howard Ferris.
Revised: April 01, 2024.

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