Levipalatum		Contents		Rev: 02/25/2025
		Classification		Biology and Ecology
		Morphology and Anatomy		Life Cycle
Return to Levipalatum Menu				Ecosystem Functions and Services
		Distribution		Management
Return to Diplogastridae Menu		Feeding		References
		Go to Nemaplex Main Menu		Go to Dictionary of Terminology

Classification:

Chromadorea

Chromadoria

Rhabditina

            Diplogastroidea

Diplogastridae

        Levipalatum Ragsdae, Kanzaki & Sommer, 2014

 

      Type species of the genus:  Levipalatum texanum Ragsdae, Kanzaki & Sommer, 2014

The genus name is derived from the a long, hooked dorsal tooth connected to a �palate� projecting anteriad and mediad from the stegostom.

    Synonyms:
     

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Morphology and Anatomy:

• Body cylindrical, stout.
• Cuticle with fine annulation,
•  Labial region with six lips and bearing six short, bristle-like, labial sensilla present in both male and morphological female (only hermaphrodites are  known) and four bristle-like cephalic papillae present in male, (typical for diplogastrid nematodes.).
•  Stomatal opening variably surrounded by six rounded  flaps
• Labial and cephalic papillae visible
• Cheilostom and gymnostom together forming a tube. Cheilostom  curved , as wide as long; gymnostom barrel-shaped, slightly longer than wide,
• Stegostom with an anterior projection (= �palate�) extending to level of cheilostom.
• Posterior to palate is a long, hooked, moveable metastegostomatal tooth extending to more than two-thirds of stoma diam; dorsal pharyngeal gland orifice penetrating tooth subapically.
•  Symmetrical  ridges of denticles, on both subventral sectors,
•  Articulated apodemes absent.
• Procorpus and metacorpus muscular. Metacorpus wider than procorpus in diam. Isthmus narrow, not muscular. Basal bulb glandular. Pharyngo-intestinal junction clearly observed, well developed.

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Distribution:

The type species was isolated from scarab beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in Texas and baited from soil in Virginia, USA.

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Feeding:

Insect associates and ?bacterial feeding.

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Biology and Ecology:

Males are rarely produced in (<5%) in cultures in which hermaphrodites have been self-fertilizing (Ragsdale et al., 1995)

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Life Cycle:

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Ecosystem Functions and Services:

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Management:

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References:

Ragsdale, E.J., Kanzaki, N., Sommer, R.J. 2014. Levipalatum texanum n. gen., n. sp. (Nematoda: Diplogastridae), an androdioecious species from the south-eastern USA Nematology 16:695-709.

Copyright © 1999 by Howard Ferris.
Revised: February 25, 2025.