DESCRIPTION OF ATALODERA-GIBBOSA N-SP AND SYNONYMIZATION OF THECAVERMICULATUS ROBBINS, 1978 TO ATALODERA WOUTS AND SHER, 1971 (NEMATA, HETERODERIDAE)

Atalodera gibbosa n. sp. is a parasite of the grass Trachypogon montufori Nees (Poaceae) in Brazil. This new species is characterized by a large stylet, spicules, vulval slit and vulva-anus distance, profile of the vulval region varying from no or small protuberance to typical vulval cone, both eggs and hatched second-stage juveniles (J2) retained in female body, cloacal tubus present, and in J2 oesophageal glands filling body cavity, and three atypical lateral lines. Because of this nematode overlapping the previously differentiated characters, Thecavermiculatus Robbins, 1978 is synonymized to Atalodera Wouts & Sher, 1971. In the field, the nematode populations were high and fluctuated during the wet season, and low and reduced in reproduction during the dry season in which J2 in hatched form and within eggs survived inside the female body.