Migratory Root Nematodes

Plant-parasitic nematodes that stay mobile and move through or over the roots as they feed, rather than settling to form galls or cysts. A nematode belongs here when its cited article calls it a migratory, lesion, burrowing or spiral nematode. Some tunnel inside root tissue and leave dark lesions or rot, while others feed from outside the root, and either way they weaken the root system, reduce uptake of water and nutrients and open the way to fungi and bacteria. They have very wide host ranges, so rotation helps less than it does against species with narrow hosts. Management uses clean planting material, fallow, resistant varieties and, where allowed, nematicides. This heading gathers them so a visitor can compare their hosts and ranges.