Pratylenchus goodeyi obtained from a field population, infecting banana roots at Madeira island, Portugal, was cultured on carrot discs at 25 °C in a growth chamber to determine its rate of reproduction and to compare the morphometry of the axenically produced population with that of specimens from a field population and from previous published descriptions. An initial inoculum level of 12 specimens (ten females and two males) produced, after four months, up to 39,000 specimens/single disc, in all stages of development (eggs, juveniles and adults with a sex ration between females and males of 12:1). The main morphometric features with stable value (such as stylet length, V%, spicules and gubernaculum length, etc.) of specimens from the carrot disc culture closely agreed with the original description, and the banana populations from Cameroon and Maderia.

Researeh was supported in part by a grant to the first author (A. l. Nieo) from Agencia Española de Cooperacion Internacional (AECI) of Spain.

Peer reviewed