Description (after Chizhov, 1980):  Females: Body spirally coiled or crescentic (C-shaped). Cuticle with fine annulation.  Lip region set off, 3-4 um high.  Procorpus cylindrical, somewhat enlarged in the middle part with a constriction before joining median bulb.  The latter ovoid.  Isthmus short and narrow.  Basal bulb well developed, trapezoid, although not overlapping the intestine.  The maximum width of the body in specimens parsitizing Poa spp or Phleum phleoides is reached at the level immediately behind the esophagus.  In more slender specimens from Agrostis (bent grass) the maximum width of the body is reached only at the level of spermatheca.  Ovary reflexed two or three times.  Oocytes in the zone of multiplication in two or three rows.  Spermatheca elongate, sometimes with up to10-12 synchronous oocytes, separated from the preuteral gland by a short constriction.  Preuteral gland long, with up to 20 synchronous egg, separated from the uterus by a constriction (oviduct).  Postvulval uterine branch reaching half the distance from the vulva to anus, filled with sperms.  Tail short, conoid, with acute terminus.
Males: Body after heat relaxation almost outstretched.  Testis usually with one or two flexures.  Bursa subterminal, does not reach the tail tip.
Hosts: Agrostis tenuis Sibth. (type host).  Besides various bent grass species, this nematode is reported from other grass genera, including Apera, Arctagrostis, Calamagrostis, Dactylis, Eragrostis, Festuca, Hordeum, Koeleria, Lolium. Phalaris, Phleum, Poa, Puccinellia, Sporobolus, and Trisetum (Kirjanova and Krall, 1971; Southey, 1973).

Bionomics: Second-stage juveniles hatch and invade young grasses early in May (Europe) or at the end of August (Australia).  The juveniles migrate to the inflorescence and incite seed galls.  Heavily infested grasses have been repeatedly mistakenly described by botanists as new species or forms (f. vivipara a.0.) Maturation and oviposition began at mid-June in European countries.  In Australia, new juveniles begans to hatch in the middle of October.  Only one generation develops per year.
Anguina agrostis is considered to be a serious or potentially important nematode pest of bent grass, especially in the Pacific Northwest USA and New Zealand (Southey, 1973).  Fresh galls of A. agrostis from chewing's fescue have been found to be poisonous to cattle and sheep in the USA and this species (= A. funesta) is known also as the vector of annual rye grass toxicity in Australia (Kirjanova and Krall, 1971; Southey, 1973; McKay a.o., 1981).
Distribution: Europe, Asia, (the far east of the USSR), North America (USA and Canada), Australia, New Zealand, South Africa.
(Description- Raski in Manual of Agricultural Nematology)

DNA Sequences Obtained

Specimen:	Collected:
442 Drawer-30	Laboratory specimen