Allantonematidae

Allantonematidae
Metaparasitylenchus hypothenemi
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Nematoda
Class: Secernentea
Order: Tylenchida
Superfamily: Sphaerularioidea
Family: Allantonematidae
Pereira, 1931
Genera
A fly infected with Howardula nematodes

Allantonematidae is a family of insect-parasitic nematodes from the order Tylenchida. Allantonematid nematodes infect a variety of insects including beetles, butterflies, flies, thrips, ants, and more.[1] For instance, the nematode Howardula aoronymphium parasitizes mushroom-feeding fruit flies,[2] Formicitylenchus oregonensis parasitizes carpenter ants,[3] and Metaparasitylenchus hypothenemi parasitizes a pest of coffee beans, the coffee berry borer.[4]

Allantonematid nematodes infect insect larvae by piercing through the cuticle, after which they reside in the insect blood. There they develop through multiple juvenile stages before being shed out the anus or reproductive tracts. Mating typically occurs external to the insect host, after which mated female nematodes infect new hosts.

  1. ^ Lewis, John W. (1995). "Nematodes: Structure, development, classification and phylogeny". Parasitology Today. 11 (2): 86. doi:10.1016/0169-4758(95)80127-8.
  2. ^ Perlman, Steve J.; Jaenike, John (2003). "Infection Success in Novel Hosts: An Experimental and Phylogenetic Study of Drosophila-Parasitic Nematodes". Evolution. 57 (3): 544–57. doi:10.1111/j.0014-3820.2003.tb01546.x. PMID 12703944.
  3. ^ Poinar, George (2003). "Formicitylenchus oregonensis n. G., n. Sp. (Allantonematidae: Nematoda), the first tylenchid parasite of ants, with a review of nematodes described from ants". Systematic Parasitology. 56 (1): 69–76. doi:10.1023/A:1025583303428. PMID 12975624. S2CID 10740145.
  4. ^ Poinar, George; Vega, Fernando E.; Castillo, Alfredo; Chavez, Intie.; Infante, Francisco (2004). "Metaparasitylenchus hypothenemi n. sp. (Nematoda: Allantonematidae), A Parasite of the Coffee Berry Borer, Hypothenemus Hampei (Curculionidae: Scolytinae)". Journal of Parasitology. 90 (5): 1106–1110. doi:10.1645/ge-3369. PMID 15562611. S2CID 19853961.