Nematode Life Cycle

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Soybean Cyst Nematode and Egg, Scanning Electron Micrograph - Wikimedia Commons

General Life-Cycle

In the complete nematode life cycle there are four larval stages, followed by the immature adult.

egg → L1 → L2 → L3 → L4 → adult

The direct life cycle is the most common

Nematode Eggs

  • These vary greatly in appearance and are very useful for diagnosis as they can often be detected and counted in faecal samples
  • NOTE: we use the typical strongyle egg to provide us with a yard-stick for comparing sizes. A "large egg", for example, means larger than a strongyle egg. A typical strongyle egg is approximately 80µm long