Studies on laboratory cultures of dune sand nematodes

Summary Mononchoides potohikus Yeates, 1969, Mesorhabditis littoralis Yeates, 1969, Panagrolaimus australis Yeates, 1969, Acrobeloides syrtisus Yeates, 1967, Zeldia punua Yeates, 1967 and Acrobeles kotingotingus Yeates, 1967, were each maintained in monoxenic culture with Bacillus cereus var. mycoides. Fecundity, fertility, longevity and generation time of each species was determined over a range of temperatures. Only P. australis and A. kotingotingus are amphimictic. Single, isolated eggs of M. littoralis failed to hatch; isolated juveniles failed to mature. In M. potohikus cultures males occur following higher densities of first stage juveniles, copulation has been observed. Fecundity, fertility and the sex of progeny are unaffected by insemination of the female. Sex determination is dependent on density of juveniles. In. Z punua and M. potohikus mean fecundity and fertility decline with increasing temperature, but increase with temperature in the other four species. Except for M. potohikus all species showed temperature limitation in the range 7–28°C and, except for A. syrtisus, decrease in generation time with increase in temperature.