The distribution of Meloidogyne spp. was determined in the Piedmont and Coastal Plains soybean production areas of South Carolina. Meloidogyne arenaria, M. incognita, and M. javanica were found in six of seven counties surveyed, with some populations consisting of two or more species. Because M. arenaria populations did not reproduce on peanut (Arachis hypogaea cv. Florunner), they were designated as Host Race 2. Severity of root galling, shoot and root growth, seed yield, and nematode reproduction were examined in fields infested with M. arenaria at Govan and Pelion, South Carolina, using soybean cultivars differing in host suitability to M. arenaria. When different responses in shoot and root growth, seed yield, and nematode reproduction in the two locations were found, soil influences were examined in duplicate field microplot experiments. Soybean growth was affected more by soil influences than by nematode populations; however, the two M. arenaria populations differed in amount of galling and rate of reproduction.