Rev 02/21/2024
Chromadorea Rhabditida Rhabditia Chambersiellidae
Macrolaimus Maupas, 1900
Some species of Macrolaimus have been described from terrestrial environments, associated with lichen, moss and insect galleries in tree trunks (Thorne, 1937; Sanwal, 1960) while others, including M. crucis, M. richteri, M. natator and M. somniorum have been described from soil samples (Abolafia et al., 2019; Swart and Heyns, 1992; Timm, 1960; Andrassy, 1984; Cid del Prado et al., 2020).
Macrolaimus spp. are assumed to be bacterivores based on the unarmed stoma and the cephaloboid oesophagus. Given their frequent association with insects, besides the advantage of transportation to new resources by phoresy, some species may acquire resources through necromeny, that is, by feeding on bacteria that are exploiting the bodies of dead insects.
Nematodes in the Chambersiellidae are frequently reported in assocaiation with bark beetles. The relationships are probably phoretic in that the nematodes are transported from tree to tree or to insect galleries by the beetles.
Species of Macrolaimus may be carried between habitats by insects (Massey, 1974). Azizoglu et al. (2016) noted that Macrolaimus species are commonly recovered from bark infested with beetles; M. canadensis was isolated from the frass of the bark beetle Phloeosinus canadensis (Sanwal, 1960), M. crucis was isolated from the pine - top weevil gallery Pissodes piniphilus (Poinar, 1975), and M. taurus, was isolated from gallery of Ips confusus on Pinus edulis (Thorne, 1937).
Abolafia, J., A. N. Ruiz-Cuenca, J. Foit, and V. Čermak. 2019. Redescription of Macrolaimus canadensis Sanwal, 1960 and M. ruehmi Andr�ssy, 1966 (Nematoda, Rhabditida, Chambersiellidae), and new data on M. crucis Maupas, 1900. Journal of Helminthology 93:109-125.
Andrassy, I. 1984. Klasse Nematoda (Ordnungen Monhysterida, Desmocolecida, Araeolaimida, Chromadorida, Rhabditida) Bestimmungsbűcher zur Bodenfauna Europas, No.9. Berlin (Deutschland): Akademie Verlag.
Azizoglu, U., S. Karaborklu, A. Ayvaz, and S. Yilmaz. 2016. Phylogenetic relationships of insect-associated free-living rhabditid nematodes from eastern Mediterranean region of Turkey. Applied Ecology and Environmental Research 14:93-103.
Cid del Prado-Vera, I. Ferris, H., Subbotin, S.A. 2020. Two new species of Macrolaimus (Nematoda: Chambersiellidae) with comments on diagnostic characters for distinguishing species. Nematropica 50:170-185.
Massey, C. L. 1974. Biology and taxonomy of nematode parasites and associates of bark beetles in the United States. Agriculture Handbook no. 446. Washington: USDA Forest Service.
Maupas, E. F. 1900. Modes et formes de reproduction des n�matodes. Archives de Zoologie Experimentale et G�n�rale 8:463-624.
Poinar, G. O. 1975. Entomogenous nematodes: A manual and host list of insect-nematode associations. Leiden, The Netherleands: Brill.
Sanwal, K. C. 1960. Macrolaimus canadensis n. sp. (Nematoda: Panagrolaiminae), from the frass of the bark beetle Phloeosinus canadensis Swaine, 1917, with remarks on other species of the genus Macrolaimus Maupas, 1900. Canadian Journal of Zoology 38:1127-1131.
Swart, A., and J. Heyns. 1992. Macrolaimus richteri spec. nov. (Nematoda: Chambersiellidae) from the Richtersveld, South Africa. Koedoe 35:19-23.
Thorne, G. 1937. A revision of the nematode family Cephalobidae Chitwood and Chitwood, 1934. Proceedings of the Helminthological Society of Washington 4:1-16.
Timm, R.W. 1960. Brevibucca punctata, n.sp. and Macrolaimus natator, n.sp., new soil nematodes from East Pakistan. Biologia 6:252-256