Table 2. Measurement of cuticle thickness and the ratio of cuticle zone thickness to total cuticle thickness of phoretic and parasitic stage Parasitaphelenchinae species.
| Species | n | Thickness of cuticle (nm) ± S.E. | Percentage of the thickness of the cuticle zones in a form, % (range) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EPI | CZ | BZ | |||
| Bursaphelenchus. xylophilus | 5 | 238.2 ± 5.2 | 13.0 (10.9–15.0) |
34.0 (28.5–39.1) |
53.0 (48.9–56.5) |
| B. conicaudatus | 5 | 240.6 ± 10.6 | 12.3 (11.1–16.7) |
34.3 (30.4–37.4) |
53.4 (51.0–58.5) |
| B. luxuriosae (PM) | 5 | 272.2 ± 6.9 | 10.0 (7.8–11.2) |
40.0 (26.7–50.8) |
50.0 (41.4–53.8) |
| B. luxuriosae (PF) | 5 | 280.2 ± 14.7 | 11.3 (9.5–12.3) |
39.1 (37.1–41.5) |
49.6 (46.5–51.9) |
| B. rainulfi | 5 | 203.7 ± 5.9 | 16.7 (14.5–18.9) |
30.0 (26.9–34.7) |
53.3 (46.4–58.0) |
| Bursaphelenchus sp. | 5 | 247.4 ± 12.2 | 12.5 (10.6–16.4) |
34.3 (27.1–46.3) |
53.2 (43.1–62.4) |
| Parasitaphelenchus sp. | 5 | 260.3 ± 15.7 | 8.3 (6.8–9.7) |
91.7 (90.3–93.2) |
|
PM = parasitic male; PF = parasitic female; EPI = epicuticle; CZ = cortical zone; BZ = basal zone. No significant differences were seen in cuticle thickness or the ratio between cuticle zones among species (P<0.05). Parasitaphelenchus sp. was excluded from the percentage data comparison because of its structural differences from Bursaphelenchs spp.