Description:
Female: Body short and stout, assuming ‘c’ shape
upon fixation. Lateral lines four, occupying ¼ of midbody
width and extending to tail tip. Head region low, almost continuous
with rest of body, with three annules. Cephalic framework sclerotized.
Spear 11-12 um long with anteriorly flattened knobs. Corpus
constricted near its junction with oval median bulb located at 40-42 %
of esophageal length. Esophageal gland lobe two to three corresponding
body widths or 28-46 um long. Opening of dorsal esophageal
gland 3 or 4 um from spear base. Nerve ring encircles isthmus
just below the median bulb. Excretory pore 59-64 um from anterior
extremity, or 3 um anterior or 7 um posterior to esophago-intestinal
valve. Hemizonid just anterior to excretory pore. Spermatheca
indistinct. Tricolumella well developed. Post vulval uterine
sac length less than one body width at vulva. Vulva a transverse
slit located at 75-77 % of body length. Egg in one specimen 53 x
17 um. Intestine overlapping rectum dorsally. Anal body
diameter 7-12 um. Tail usually conoid, striated, with rounded
smooth terminus. Tail in one specimen with a terminal process.
Phasmids near middle of tail.
Male: Not found.
Type Host and Locality:
Soil and roots of Sorghum halepense (L.) Pers. from H.A.U. Campus,
Hissar, India.
Type Specimens:
Holotype mounted on slide No. 1, Pratylenchus microstylus n.
sp.; paratypes on slides Nos. 2-4. Holotype and nine paratypes
deposited with Department of Nematology, H.A.U., Hissar, India; two paratypes
with National Nematode Collection, Division of Nematology, I.A.R.I., New
Dehli, India.
Differential Diagnosis:
Pratylenchus microstylus n. sp. is similar to P. mulchandi Nandkumar
& Khera, 1970, from which it differs in being smaller, having a shorter
spear and post vulval uterine sac, and overlapping of rectum. L =
440-580 um; spear = 16-20 um; post vulval uterine sac more than 1.5 vulval
body widths long; intestine not overlapping rectum in P. mulchandi.