Observations on the polinucleate esophageal glands of Rotylenchus magnus jaeni Castillo et al., 1994 juveniles with comments on the morphology of a population of R. agnetis Szczygiel, 1968 from Italy

The esophagus of the juvenile stage of Rotylenchus magnus jaeni Castillo et al., 1994 exhibits a long pharyngeal overlap and esophageal glands with seven nuclei, as reported for the adult stage of this subspecies. Nuclei of esophageal glands are about the same size, but vary in their arrangement among specimens. The large number of esophageal gland nuclei and long pharyngeal overlap of R magnus suggest that this species is more evolved than the other Rotylenchus species which have shorter pharyngeal overlap and esophageal glands with only three nuclei. Morphometrics and morphology of an Italian population of Rotylenchus agnetis Szczygiel, 1968 from the rhizosphere of Ruscus aculeatus L. did not differ from those reported for other populations from other countries. However, females of this population showed a large annulus at the tail terminus.