Factors affecting the life span of the free-living nematode Metarhabditis andrassyana (Rhabditidae)

Longevity studies on Metarhabditis andrassyana (Tahseen et al., 2004) revealed that both males and females had a shorter life span in monoxenic culture than in axenic culture conditions. Generally, females lived for longer periods as compared to males. However, when both the sexes were placed together in varying numbers, the female's life span was less, as compared to the males. Females undergoing matricidal hatching lived for shorter periods as compared to the normal egg laying females.