Association of Fig Pollinating Wasps and Fig Nematodes inside Male and Female Figs of a Dioecious Fig Tree in Sumatra, Indonesia.

Nematodes can grow within the inflorescences of many fig trees (Ficus spp., Moraceae); however, the feeding behaviour of most nematodes is not known. Fig pollinating wasps (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae) transfer nematodes into young figs upon the wasps' entry into the figs to deposit their eggs. Most Asian fig trees, however, are functionally dioecious, and the pollinating wasps that enter female figs are unable to reproduce. They fail to produce the offspring required to carry the new generations of nematodes. We examined whether female figs of F. hispida can nonetheless support the development of phoretic nematode populations. Nematodes were extracted from male and female figs sampled in Sumatra, Indonesia, to compare the growth of their populations within the figs. We found three species of nematodes that grew within figs of male and female trees of F. hispida: Ficophagus cf. centerae (Aphelenchoididae), Martininema baculum (Aphelenchoididae) and Caenorhabditis sp (Rhabditidae). The latter species (Caenorhabditis sp.) has never been reported to be associated with F. hispida before. Nematode populations peaked at around 120-140 individuals in both sexes of figs, at the time when a succeeding generation of adult fig wasps appeared within male figs. The female figs could support the growth and reproduction of the three nematodes species; however, the absence of vectors meant that female figs remained as traps from which there could be no escape.

On the status of Suifunema peregrinatum (Carreno, 2017) n. comb. (Nematoda: Oxyuridomorpha: Thelastomatidae) and first record of the species for Japan.

Blattophila peregrinata Carreno, 2017 (Nematoda: Oxyuridomorpha: Thelastomatidae) is proposed as a junior synonym of Suifunema peregrinatum (Carreno, 2017) n. comb., based on the revision of the type material of S. caudelli Chitwood, 1932, the type and only species of the genus. The revision permitted the emendation of some features of the original descriptions, namely the position of the nerve ring at level of the corpus instead the isthmus and the female genital tract didelphic-prodelphic instead didelphic-amphidelphic. The males of S. peregrinatum n. comb. are the only ones known for the genus. Thus, an amended generic diagnosis is given, including information on the males. Both S. peregrinatum n. comb. and S. caudelli differ by having a more slender body, a longer tail, and the vulva farther from the anterior end in the former. S. peregrinatum n. comb. is recorded for the first time from Pycnoscelus indicus Fabricius, 1775 (Blattodea: Blaberidae) from Japan. The specimens from Japan are morphologically consistent with other populations of the species from the USA and the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador. Only some morphometrics vary slightly, but these are within the range of the species. The phylogenetic position of the genus among the family Thelastomatidae is discussed, including sequences of the D2-D3 LSU rDNA of specimens from both the type population (Ohio, USA) and Japan.

First record of Hammerschmidtiella diesingi (Hammerschmidt, 1838) (Oxyuridomorpha: Thelastomatidae) parasite of Periplaneta americana (Linnaeus, 1758) (Blattodea: Blattidae) in Japan, morphological and molecular characterization.

Nematodes, belonging to the family Thelastomatidae, are parasites of saprophytic terrestrial arthropods, mainly cockroaches. American cockroach Periplaneta americana (Linnaeus, 1758) has high environmental adaptability, and has been spread worldwide by human activity. There are several reports of thelastomatid parasitic nematodes of P americana in the world. Here, the thelastomatid nematode Hammerschmidtiella diesingi (Hammerschmidt, 1838) (Oxyuridomorpha: Thelastomatidae), isolated from P americana is recorded for the first time in Japan. Through morphometrics, DIC and SEM observations, we confirmed that specimens of the present study agree with previous records of H. diesingi. DNA sequencing of the partial D2/D3 LSU expansion segment of the 28S ribosomal RNA gene revealed that H. diesingi from Japan matches with H. diesingi from other countries. Our contributions are very useful and fundamental for further analysis of the cockroach and parasite relations.

Detecting nonculturable bacteria in the active mycorrhizal zone of the pine mushroom Tricholoma matsutake.

The fungus Tricholoma matsutake forms an ectomycorrhizal relationship with pine trees. Its sporocarps often develop in a circle, which is commonly known as a fairy ring. The fungus produces a solid, compact, white aggregate of mycelia and mycorrhizae beneath the fairy ring, which in Japanese is called a 'shiro'. In the present study, we used soil dilution plating and molecular techniques to analyze the bacterial communities within, beneath, and outside the T. matsutake fairy ring. Soil dilution plating confirmed previous reports that bacteria and actinomycetes are seldom present in the soil of the active mycorrhizal zone of the T. matsutake shiro. In addition, the results showed that the absence of bacteria was strongly correlated with the presence of T. matsutake mycorrhizae. The results demonstrate that bacteria, especially aerobic and heterotrophic forms, and actinomycetes, are strongly inhibited by T. matsutake. Indeed, neither bacteria nor actinomycetes were detected in 11.3% of 213 soil samples from the entire shiro area by culture-dependent methods. However, molecular techniques demonstrated that some bacteria, such as individual genera of Sphingomonas and Acidobacterium, were present in the active mycorrhizal zone, even though they were not detected in soil assays using the dilution plating technique.