Genus Bunonema
Jagerskiold, 1905
Photo Gallery- Konza Prairie
Photo Gallery- sp. A  Forensic Nematology
Photo Gallery- sp. B  Forensic Nematology

Definition:  Bunonematinae.  Body spindle-shaped, usually between 250 and 400u long, tapering posteriorly to a sharply pointed tail.  Head asymmetrical; the right lateral lip enlarged and projecting laterally; right submedians enlarged, lamallate and each bearing a distal spine and modified lip papillae.  Lips of left side small and unmodified, rather obscured by those of the right.  5 long papillae adorn the head, corresponding to the ends of the 5 cuticular ridges that end at the head, the 3 on the left side and the 2 median membranes.  There are other short spines in some species.  Head relatively large.  Right side with pronounced ornamentation which is basically a fine or coarse hexagonal network pattern with additional paired warts present or absent.  A narrow dorsal and ventral membrane, supported by cuticular rods, runs along the length of the body in a median position, ending anteriorly in a collar on the right side.  Left side of the body smooth except for 5 longitudinal ridges.  The stoma appears to have a glottid aparatus (see Korner, 1954) but has not been adequately described.  The cheilo-, pro- and mesostom is fused into a long cylinder about 11 times longer than wide, the segments of the metastom bulge inwards and have minute denticles, and the telostom appears as a rhabdial ring.  An oesophageal collar reaches up about 10% of the protostom.  Oesophagus has rounded median bulb and a rounded terminal bulb with unserrated valve plates.  Nerve ring crosses the isthmus and the exretory pore is slightly behind the ring.  Rectum long, in the female, the anus opens under a flap of cuticle.  Males unknown.

Type species:  Bunonema richtersi Jagerskiold, 1905

Species found:       at:
B. reticulatum Konza Prairie