Indian Journal of Nematology

The present study deals with description of Teratorhabditis andrassyi Tahseen & Jairajpuri, 1988 showing ectophoretic association with Protaetia aurichalcea (Flower chafer beetle) collected from paddy fields during the harvesting season (October-November 2017). The isolated population exhibited almost similar morphological and morphometric characteristics as that of T. andrassyi. The molecular data also did not reveal close identity with the submitted sequences of other congeners. The species is characterised by prominent cuticular punctations, lips with heavily cuticularised labial margins and grooves, each metastegostomal plate with three large setose denticles flanked by two smaller ones; females with 1–2 uterine eggs with no evidence of intra-uterine development and a large copulatory plug formed of mucilaginous secretions; males with long and slender spicules with knob-like capitula and distal ends fused up to 25–35% of length; gubernaculum proximally attenuated and curved; bursa open, peloderan with crenate margins, not indented terminally and genital papillae nine pairs with two precloacal and seven postcloacal pairs arranged in 2/4+P+3 configuration.