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A comparison of the rate of drying of four nematode species using a liquid paraffin technique
Author(s) -
WOMERSLEY CHRISTOPHER
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
annals of applied biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.677
H-Index - 80
eISSN - 1744-7348
pISSN - 0003-4746
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-7348.1978.tb02649.x
Subject(s) - biology , desiccation , nematode , horticulture , botany , ecology
SUMMARY A technique of immersion refractometry has been employed to compare the rates at which four species of nematodes lose water during desiccation at 0% r.h. Panagrellus redivivus and Ditylenchus myceliophagus showed little ability to control water loss, although in the latter species coiling helped slow the rate of drying. Ditylenchus dipsaci and Anguina tritici exhibited a much greater degree of control over water loss during desiccation, A. tritici being more successful. D. dipsaci revived from ‘wool’ showed a marked decrease in ability to control water loss when compared with freshly extracted worms. The results obtained have been compared with those from work using interference microscopy, and a critical assessment of the liquid paraffin technique is presented.