Hatching Response of the Sugarbeet Nematode, Heterodera schachtii, to Electric Shock.

Nemato log i s t s , Agr icu l tura l Research Service, Crops Research Divis ion, U. S. D e p a r t m e n t of Agricul ture , Salinas, Ca l i forn ia 93901, Shafter , Ca l i forn ia 93263, and Senior Electr ical Engineer , Space Divis ion, Nor th Amer i can Rockwel l Corpora t ion , Downey, Cal i forn ia 90300. The au thors are indebted to Made l ine Mull ins and M a r g a r e t D e M o s s for their assistance. Meloidogyne incognita acrita Chi twood 1949 increased the ra te of hatch ( 2 ) ; s imilar exper iments have not been r epor t ed for o ther nema tode species. Consequent ly , we a t t empted to increase hatching of larvae f rom cysts of the sugarbee t nematode , Heterodera schachtii Schmidt 1871, by electr ical s t imulat ion to de te rmine whether a species outs ide the genus Meloidogyne reacts s imilarly. The e lect r ica l appa ra tus used was descr ibed by Caveness and Caveness (1). Cysts