A new species of the genus Cranifera Kloss, 1960 (Thelastomatidae, Nematoda) parasitizing larvae of Scarabaeidae (Coleoptera) from Argentina

Abstract

The presente study describes and ilustrates Cranifera robustum n. sp. (Nematoda, Thelastomathidae), a parasite of Cyclocephala signaticollis larvaes (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae), from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Cranifera robustum n. sp. ischaracterized by its striated cuticle trough all the body, proeminent near the anterior end, its lack of intestine caecum, itssmall stomach, a long oesophagus, with thin irregular walls in male and regular ones in female, with a round valvatedbasal bulb. Its nerve ring is located in the middle of the oesophagus corpus, and the excretory pore is located at the base ofthe oesophagus, in both sexes. The female presents a not protruding vulva, located right behind the longitudinal middleline of the body, a short vagina, two ovaries didelphic, amphidelphic, and ellipsoidal oviles, short and conical appendagetail. The male presentes one spicule slightly curved, its gubernaculum is absent and its genital papillae is arranged in threepairs: two large ventral preanal pairs and one ventral postanal pair.