Two Known Species of Hemicriconemoides (Nematoda: Criconematidae) from Aizawl District, Mizoram

A survey was conducted in six different localities of Aizawl district i.e Zemabuak, Thumpui, Haulawng, Lungleng, Mizoram University campus and Aizawl with elevation ranging between 1132 to 1500 msl in December, 2018 and September, 2019. Soil samples were randomly collected from cultivated and forest cover area. The collected soil were processed through Cobb's sieving and decanting methods followed by Baerman's funnel method (Thorne,1961). Among the plant parasitic and predatory nematode collected Hemicriconemoides mangiferae (Siddiqi, 1961) and Hemicriconemoides chitwoodi (Esser, 1960) associated with vegetables crops and wild plants were found in large numbers. The morphometric description and data of Hemicroconemoides mangiferae (Siddiqi, 1961): Body length= 217.48–236.42 (224.65±6.04), R=127–132(130±1.83), V=90.15–91.65(90.7±0.49), Stylet=35.86–51.53 (39.6±5.35), Oesophagus= 42.69–54.26 (49.83±3.86), ABD= 8.91–13.30 (11.5±1.62), Tail=17.52–19.90 (18.75±0.86), shorter in body and stylet length whencompared to the existing species and tail elongate and conoid. Hemicriconemoides chitwoodi (Esser, 1960): Body length=450.39–49154 (472.21±15.58), R= 125–126 (125.7±0.43), V= 88.43–89.32 (89.28±0.46), Stylet= 84.26–85.58 (85.12±0.52),Oesophagus=117.90–12208 (119.69±2.19), ABD= 21.61–23.48 (22.59±0.76),Tail= 43.54–48.00 (45.40±1.68), vulval opening with vulval sheath and tail sharplyconoid, gradually tapering to an acute tip. The detail morphological description and data with host, localities, photomicrograph and camera lucida diagram are shown. The work recorded the first report of the species from Mizoram.