In the course of work undertaken in the preparation of the experimental field plots at Winches Farm it has been of interest to ascertain something about the nematode fauna of the place, especially that occurring in certain heaps of manure made at the farm and afterwards used on some of the plots. With regard to the worms recorded from sheep droppings collected from pastures these were obtained in Baermann extractions, set up by a colleague, in attempts to collect larvae of parasitic nematodes harboured by the stock. It became necessary for purposes of differentiation to determine the naturally occurring free-living nematodes which were found in great abundance. The worms described in the following pages have been encountered in the course of these investigations. Some are new to science and about others very little has previously been known so that additional information on them is here made available.
The purpose of the present paper is to bring together brief descriptions of the various species of the genus Anguillulina, more generally known under the synonymous generic name of Tylenchus Bastian, 1865. In the case of the plant-parasitic species, in addition to particulars on dimensions and morphology, data are given on life-history, hosts and geographical distribution; such matters as symptoms, pathology and methods of control are not dealt with.
The members of the nematode genus Rhabdias present many features of great interest to the parasitologist. They are usually found inhabiting the lungs of amphibians and reptiles where their eggs or larvæ are produced. They have the general appearance of females and are either hermaphroditic or parthenogenetic in function (vide Goldschmidt, 1923, p. 176, on “Unisexual Monœcism”). Seurat (1920), p. 121, considers that the parasitic forms of R. dujardini and R. entomelas from the Slow worm Anguis fragilis are parthenogenetic females and not protandrous hermaphrodites because they lay an enormous number of eggs, whereas the hermaphroditic forms produce comparatively few eggs. Moreover, in R. entomelas he has been unable to find either receptacula seminis or spermatozoa.
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