Longidorus cretensis n. sp. (Nematoda: Longidoridae) from a vineyard infected with a foliar `yellow mosaic' on Crete, Greece

Abstract

A description is provided of Longidorus cretensis n. sp., a bisexual species associated with grapevines in Crete, Greece. The species is characterised by a body length of 6.3-8.7 mm, head flattened anteriorly and continuous with the body profile, amphids pocket-shaped and not bilobed, a posteriorly situated guide-ring, posteriorly situated oesophageal glands, and a tail bluntly rounded to hemispherical. Xiphinema index was present throughout the vineyard, but L. cretensis n. sp. occurred only in an area where the grapevine foliage exhibited a `yellow mosaic' disease, and in association with X. pachtaicum from the rhizosphere of an olive tree growing adjacent to the vineyard. Nematode-transmitted virus was not recovered from weed species growing in the vicinity of the olive tree, or by bait-testing soil collected from the rhizosphere of the tree. Population densities of L. cretensis n. sp. were similar under olive and grapevine, but twice as many adult specimens were recovered from soil samples collected in the vineyard. Three quarters of L. cretensis specimens were present at 21-40 cm depth under olive, whereas a similar proportion of the population was equally distributed under grapevine at 21-40 cm and 41-60 cm depths.