摘要

A new species of Steinernema is described herein as S. bifurcatum n. sp. It is characterised by the presence of a male gubernaculum that is bifurcate at both proximal and distal ends, a key diagnostic feature. Steinernema bifurcatum n. sp. belongs to the bicornutum group by having two horn-like structures on the labial region of the infective juvenile (IJ). It can be recognised by LT body diam. = 22 (20-24) mu m, pharynx = 114 (102-134) mu m, ratio a = 24 (22-25) and D% = 39.7 (33-47). The new species can be further recognised by the male characters of D% = 48 (42-58), and genital papillae = 23 (22 + 1) in number and, for the first generation female, excretory pore = 75.7 (60-108) mu m, pharynx = 174 (158-200) mu m and tail length = 43.2 (38-60) mu m. Steinernema bifurcatum n. sp. is distinguished from all other members of the bicornutum group by the presence of a gubernaculum which is bifurcated at both proximal and distal ends in first generation males. On the basis of genital papillae number (22 1) it is close to S. abbasi, S. ceratophorum and S. pakistanense, but can be distinguished by morphometrics of IJ and adults. IJ of S. bifurcatum n. sp. can be differentiated from those of S. ceratophorum and S. pakistanense by the smaller body length of 460-590 gm. Steinernema bifurcatum n. sp. differs from S. abbasi by morphological characters of IJ, male and female stages. The IJ can be distinguished by D% (33-47), body diam. (20-24), mu m, b value (3.8-5.6) and pharynx length (102-134) gm. The second generation male differs by GS ratio (0.29-0.45) and the mucronate tail. The first generation female is distinguished by a protruding vulva and no postanal swelling. Analysis of ITS rDNA (824 bp), D2-D3 (880 bp) and mt DNA region (507 bp) sequences confirm that the studied nematode isolate represents a valid new species, the combination of molecular and morphological features indicating that it belongs to Clade IV, the bicornutum group.