Observations on a Xiphinema insigne Population with Several Males from Hangzhou, China.

A population of Xiphinema insigne with several males was found on the campus of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China, in November 1998 in the rhizosphere of Yulan Magnolia. Morphometrics of nine males and 25 females of this population are given herein. No sperm were found in the genital tracts of 118 females that were examined. This agrees with all other observations reported for this species except for the synonym of X. insigne, X. neodimorphicaudatum, in which males are as common as females and the females genital tracts contain numerous sperm. In the males of this study population, sperm were observed only in the seminal vesicles at the distal end of the testes before their juncture with the vas deferens. The population did not fit within either of the two forms of the species. This and other populations have filled in the gaps between the two forms, making the morphometrics for all reported populations a continuum.