Family Mermithidae
Revised
11/29/23
Mermithoidea
Mermithidae Braun, 1883
- A family of nematode parasites mainly of insects.
- Nematodes of the family Mermithidae
are lethal parasites of arthropods, mainly insects.
-
Their hosts include species
of at least 15 different orders of insects (Nickle 1972).
-
Descriptions of many species are not satisfactory and many described species are
considered as species
inquirendae because
the
adult nematodes have not been found and, in many cases, need to be obtained by
laboratory rearing of emerged postparasitic juveniles.
-
Mermithids emerge as later-stage juveniles or as adults from the insect
host. Adults mate and lay eggs or release juveniles into the benthic soil at
the bottom of a shallow water body
-
In some species, eggs are a resistant life stage that can be
transported and distributed for biological control putposes (Petersen, 1985;
Platzer, 2007).
-
Molecular methods are
aiding understanding of the taxonomy of the family (Gradinarov, 2014).
Biology:
Density-dependent sex determination of the parasitic nematodes is a general
feature of mermithid life history. Parasitism of the host by multiple
nematode individuals (termed superparasitism) reults in a higher proportion of
the infective juveniles developing into males and, consequently, proportionally
fewer females . Additionally, superparasitism reduces availability of host
resources per parasite and the proprtionally fewer and smaller nematode females
may be less fecund (Blackmore and Charnov, 1989; Christie, 1929; Mullens and
Luhring, 2023; Petersen, 1972; Sanad et al., 2013).
References
Blackmore, M. S. and Charnov, E. L. 1989. Adaptive variation in environmental
sex determination in a nematode. American Naturalist 134:817-823. Christie, J.
R. 1929. Some observations on sex in the Mermithidae. Journal of Experimental
Zoology 53:59-76.
Christie, J.R. 1929. Some observations on sex in the Mermithidae. Journal of
Experimental Zoology 53:59-76
Gradinarov, D. 2014. The mermithid species Isomermis lairdi (Nematoda, Mermithidae),
previously only known in Africa, found in Europe. Zookeys 454:1-11.
Mullens, B.A. and Luhring, K.A. 2023. Parasite load effects on sex ratio, size,
survival and mating fitness of Heleidomermis magnapapula in Culicoides
sonorensis. J. Nematology 55: e2023-1 r | DOI: 10.2478/jofnem-2023-0052
Nickle WR. 1972. A
contribution to our knowledge of the Mermithidae (Nematoda). Journal
of Nematology 4:
113-146.
Petersen, J. J. 1972. Factors affecting the sex ratio of mermithid parasites of
mosquitoes. Journal of Nematology 4:83-87.
Petersen, J.J. 1985. Nematodes as biological control agents: Part 1.
Mermithidae. Advances in Parasitology 24:307-346.
Platzer, E.G. 2007. Mermithid nematodes. Journal of the American Mosquito
Control Association Bulletin 7:58-64
Sanad, M., Shamseldin, M. M., Elgindi, A. Y. and Gaugler, R. 2013. Host
penetration and emergence patterns of the mosquito-parasitic mermithids
Romanomermis iyengari and Strelkovimermis spiculatus (Nematoda: Mermithidae).
Journal of Nematology 45:30-37
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