Masahiko TOKORO, Tomoya KIYOHARA, Tadakazu NAKASHIMA and Kiyoshi NAKAMUTA
Forestry & Forest Products Research Institute, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305, Japan
The pine wood nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, is the causal agent of pine wilt disease in Japan and U.S.A.. It is an obligate bisexual species, and copulation is necessary for reproduction. Mating behavior of the nematodes was studied on agar strips in petri dishes.
Virgin mature female nematodes attracted and arrested the male nematodes but 4th-stage females, mated females and dead females did not attract or arrest the male nematodes. Male nematodes were also arrested by the virgin female secretions emitted into agar and vapor from the virgin females. Female attraction by the male nematodes was also observed. No homosexual attraction was observed either in males or females. These results indicated that the nematodes use sex pheromones for mating behavior.