LAUSR

The genus Ditylenchus consists of more than 60 species, some of which are plant parasites. In this paper we report on Ditylenchus laurae sp. n. from Poland, a new species associated with the aquatic plant, Potamogeton perfoliatus L. Ditylenchus laurae sp. n. is characterised by a long and slender body with L = 1881 (1523-2095)  μ m and 1875 (1690-2089)  μ m, a = 88.8 (72.5-102.5) and 89.7 (71.9-97.9), stylet length = 10.8 (9.6-12.1)  μ m and 8.3 (7.7-9.0)  μ m, tail length = 117.2 (103.5-126.7)  μ m and 102.4 (98.3-113.6)  μ m in females and males, respectively; four incisures, rounded stylet knobs, long basal bulb (about ten times as long as wide), post-vulval uterine sac from 4.3-5.6 vulval body diam. long, and mucronate tail. Characterisation using the ITS rRNA, COI and hsp 90 gene sequences was conducted and a phylogenetic analyses revealed that D. laurae sp. n. belongs to the D. dipsaci complex.