Pterygorhitis		Contents		Rev 09/23/2022
		Classification		Biology and Ecology
		Morphology and Anatomy		Life Cycle
Return to Pterygorhitis Menu				Ecosystem Functions and Services
		Distribution		Management
Return to Pterygorhabditidae Menu		Feeding		References
		Go to Nemaplex Main Menu		Go to Dictionary of Terminology

Classification:

Chromadorea
  Rhabditia

    Rhabditida

      Bunonematoidea

        Pterygorhabditidae

        Pterygorhitis Andrassy, 2005

  Type species Pterygorhitis panopla (Bernard, 1997), Andrassy, 2005

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Morphology and Anatomy:

• Body straight to slightly curved ventrally, cylindrical and tapering at both ends.
•  Ornamentation of body highly asymmetrical, dominated by strong longitudinal ridges dorsally, ventrally and on the right side .
•  Most anteriorly, ornamentation consisting of an oval shield formed from flattened transverse ridges on right side of body. Surmounting the shield, a narrowly oval series of dumbbelllike bosses .
•  In the female, eleven longitudinal ridges; the male with nine ridges. The centermost ridge (right lateral) strong, extending from the anterior esophageal region to the anal level; three ridges extending right subdorsally and right subventrally, each with four points in crosssection; in the male, one of these three ridges missing on each side. Dorsally and ventrally, very strong three-pointed ridges present; subventrally and subdorsally, truncate ridges. On the left side, two longitudinal ridges, appearing as very small triangular projections of cuticle in crosssection. Largest ridges more than one-third of the body thickness.
• Entire body, except lip region, enveloped in a transparent, thin cuticular sheath which seems constantly lobed on the large ventral, dorsal, subventral, and subdorsal ridges, and on the two triangular projections of the left side  Sheath forming a long sleeve extending from the anus.
• Tail of female with platelike thickenings.
• Head region retractile and mobile; on right side with a rounded protuberance, on each side of which is a long tapering cephalic seta
• Two papillae each on dorsal and ventral side, a long pair of setae present subdorsally and subventrally on left side, which also possesses five leaflike projections: the outer two diverging, the middle one straight, the other two converging distally; oral aperture vaguely hexagonal, buccal tube slender, cheilorhabdions separate; possibly three minute denticles present at base of stoma .
•  Esophagus muscled throughout, metacorpus large, valved, basal bulb oval, cardia small.
• Nerve ring surrounding esophagus at middle of isthmus;
• Excretory pore near junction of isthmus and basal bulb and in the hemizonid.
• (**see original description for greater detail and drawings of cuticular ornamentation).

Female:

•  Stouter than male, tail elongateconical, tapering to an unarmored point .
• Vulva near midbody, gonads paired, amphidelphic, reflexed . Anterior gonad slightly longer than posterior; the region of each gonad proximal to the flexure functioning as a combination spermatheca and uterus.
• Sperms ameboid.
• Vulval lips thickened, vulva opening transverse.

Male:

• Gonad single, reflexed distally one body-width or less.
• Spicules heavy, strongly sclerotized, fused distally and bent midway, weakly cephalated, and with several longitudinal reinforcing bars
• Gubernaculum difficult to see clearly, about one-third the spicule length, linear in side view, apparently broadened distally in dorsal view.
• Bursa absent, although the cuticular sheath on the left side is frequently folded over the papillae in such a way as to form a bursalike structure.
• Caudal papillae consisting of eight or nine pairs arranged symmetrically on each side as follows: three large fused papillae near the gonopore; one strong papilla distal to these; one or two tiny papillae at about the middle of the tail, followed by a long slender papilla; and two curved pointed papillae distally.

Ref Bernard, 1979.

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Distribution:

The type species of the genus, Pterygorhitis. panopla,  was collected  and described from beetle frass and other organic detritus under the loose bark of a log on the ground on the campus of the University of Tennessee in Knox County, Tennessee. It has been collected from organic detritus at several other locations in Tennessee (Bernard, 1979).

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Feeding:

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Biology and Ecology:

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Life Cycle:

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Ecosystem Functions and Services:

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Management:

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References:

Andrassy, I. 2005. Free-living Nematodes of Hungary, I (Nematoda errantia). Pedozoologica Hungarica 3. Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest, Hungary. 518p.

Bernard, E.C. 1979. New Species of Bunonematoidea (Rhabditida) from Georgia and Tennessee. J. Nematology 11:344-358.

Holovachov, O., Esquivel, A., and Bongers, T. 2003. Free-living nematodes from nature reserves in Costa Rica. 5. Bunonematoidea (Rhabditida). Nematology 5:665-676.

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Copyright © 1999 by Howard Ferris.
Revised: September 23, 2022.