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Hexamermis popilliae n. sp. (Nematoda: Mermithidae) parasitizing the Japanese beetle Popillia japonica Newman (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in Italy

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Abstract

A new species of mermithid nematode, Hexamermis popilliae n. sp. (Nematoda: Mermithidae) is described from the Japanese beetle Popillia japonica Newman in Italy, an area of new introduction for this invasive pest. The combination of the following characters separates H. popilliae from other members of the genus Hexamermis Steiner, 1924: adult head obtuse; amphidial pouches slightly posterior to lateral head papillae in female but adjacent to lateral head papillae in males; amphidial openings large, well developed; amphidial pouches elliptical in females and oblong in males; cuticular vulvar cone well developed, vulvar lips greatly reduced or lacking, vagina curved at tip where meeting uteri, without reverse bend (not S-shaped), spicules slightly curved, with a slight bend in the basal portion, approximately equal to body width at cloaca. This is the first record of a species of Hexamermis parasitizing the Japanese beetle Popillia japonica. The only previous mention of mermithid nematodes from P. japonica was an undescribed species of Psammomermis in North America. Hexamermis popilliae will be evaluated as a potential biological control agent in an integrated control program of the Japanese beetle in Italy.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Andrei Legalov for translating from Russian to English a portion of the keys of Artyukhovsky (1990). Thanks to Simone Priori for the soil analysis and Andrea Taddei for his support during the samplings in Lombardy.

Funding

This work was carried out in the context of the National Project ‘ASPROPI - Activities for the protection of plants’ (Italian Ministry of Agricultural Food and Forestry, DM n. 28635, 2015/12/28), together with the regional project ‘COBIPO - Biological Control of Popillia japonica’ [Piedmont Region (D n. 910–2015/12/29)].

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Author notes

  1. Giuseppe Mazza and Francesco Paoli contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CREA-DC, Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agraria- Research Centre for Plant Protection and Certification, via di Lanciola 12/a, 50125, Florence, Italy

    Giuseppe Mazza, Francesco Paoli, Agostino Strangi, Giulia Torrini, Leonardo Marianelli, Giuseppino Sabbatini Peverieri, Francesco Binazzi, Claudia Benvenuti & Pio F. Roversi

  2. Settore Fitosanitario e Servizi Tecnico-scientifici, Regione Piemonte, via Livorno 60, Turin, Italy

    Giovanni Bosio, Davide Venanzio & Emanuela Giacometto

  3. Laboratorio Fitopatologico, Servizio Fitosanitario Regione Lombardia, Viale Raimondi, 56 Vertemate con Minoprio, Como, Italy

    Stefano Sacchi

  4. Department of Integrative Biology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA

    George O. Poinar Jr.

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  1. Giuseppe Mazza
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  2. Francesco Paoli
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  14. George O. Poinar Jr.
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Correspondence to George O. Poinar Jr..

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All applicable institutional, national and international guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.

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This article was registered in the Official Register of Zoological Nomenclature (ZooBank) as 61BCB3C6-8300-4149-9BD8-E5D157D19708. This article was published as an Online First article on the online publication date shown on this page. The article should be cited by using the doi number. This is the Version of Record.

This article is part of the Topical Collection Nematoda.

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Mazza, G., Paoli, F., Strangi, A. et al. Hexamermis popilliae n. sp. (Nematoda: Mermithidae) parasitizing the Japanese beetle Popillia japonica Newman (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in Italy. Syst Parasitol 94, 915–926 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-017-9746-0

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