Subfamily LONGIDORINAE

                                  Rev 05/28/25

Classification:

      Enoplea
       Dorylaimida
        Dorylaimina
         Dorylaimoidea
          Longidoridae
           Longidorinae

Morphology and Anatomy:

• Chromosome number (n)=7 (only three species of Longidorus observed).
• Body elongate, over 2 mm long but exceeding 6 mm in some cases.  Coefficient "a" (ratio of length to width) variable, over 80 for the largest species.
• Cuticle thick, smooth, marked with very fine transverse striations. 
• Lateral body pores usually in two rows, leading into clear, pouch-like areas in hypodermal chords; in addition, a series of dorsal and ventral body pores are sometimes seen, especially on the extremities. 
• Lip region smoothly rounded, continuous with or set off from the body, with six amalgamated lips bearing sixteen distinct papillae arranged in two circlets, six in inner and ten in outer. 
• Amphids pouch-like or stirrup-shaped.  Amphid aperture pore-like, never slit-like, situated at the base of the lateral lips. 
• Stoma tubular, without sclerotization, less than five lip-widths in length.
• Weak odontostyle, not forked at the junction with odontophore; odontophore without or with very weakly developed basal flanges.  If basal swellings occur on odontophore, they never form distinct knobbed flanges.
• Guiding ring single, anteriorly situated, located around the anterior half of the stylet usually at 2 to 4 labial widths from anterior end.
• Esophageal bulb elongate-cylindroid, not distinctly set off from anterior slender portion of esophagus.  Inner walls forming an elongate valve.  Nuclei of the dorsal and the anterior pair of the sub-ventral esophageal glands usually distinct, located near the anterior end and the middle of the esophageal bulb, respectively.  Cardia present.
• Vulva transverse, near middle of body. 
• Ovaries usually paired, reflexed.
• No sexual dimorphism. 
• Males, when present, with paired, heavily reinforced spicules. Gubernaculum absent.  Lateral guiding pieces for spicules present.
• Supplements present as an adanal pair and a ventro-median series (usually with more than 7 supplements, rarely with 6 or 7).
• Tail generally conoid to rounded (coefficient "c" [ratio of tail length to anal body diameter] rarely exceeding 2.5).  Tails of both sexes similar.

References:

Lamberti, Taylor and Seinhorst, Nematode Vectors of Plant Viruses, New York: Plenum Press (1974), pp. 72-73.

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