Description and phylogeny of Bursaphelenchus luxuriosae n. sp (Nematoda: Aphelenchoididae) isolated from Acalolepta luxuriosa (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)

Bursaphelenchus luxuriosae n. sp. is described and figured. Specimens were collected from a 2-week-old culture on Botrytis cinerea. The new species is characterised by a body length of 897 (710-1159) mum in the female and 745 (621-887) Am in the male, relatively robust body (a = 33-39 in the female and 27-30 in the male), stylet ca 14 (11-16) mum long, four lines in the lateral field, the large (27-30 mum) arcuate spicule with a terminal cucullus, seven (2 + 1 + 2 + 2) male caudal papillae, the long, well developed vulval flap and the shape of the female tail which is long, tapered, and ventrally bent when killed by heat with an irregular or roughened dorsal contour near the tip and an irregular terminus. The new species is considered to belong to the Bursaphelenchus xylophilus group of the genus Bursaphelenchus and is most closely related to B. conicaudatus and B. fraudulentus in spicule shape, vulval flap and 'a' values of males and females. It is easily distinguished from these two species by the morphology of female tail. The RFLP profile confirms the distinctness of the new species within the B. xylophilus group. The phylogenetic status of B. luxuriosae n. sp. within the B. xylophilus group is indicated by molecular phylogenetic analysis. Bursaphelenchus luxuriosae n. sp. is assumed to be close to B. conicaudatus and to have diverged from the ancestor of the B. xylophilus group early in the speciation of the group.