An entomopathogenic nematode, Heterorhabditis atacamensis- Nematode Information New entomopathogenic nematode species was found in the soil collected from Atacama Desert in Chile and was named after Atacama Desert as Heterorhabditis atacamensis. I like the way nematode taxonomists (Edgington et al., 2011) used individual morphological characteristics to differentiate this new species from other morphologically similar species of entomopathogenic nematodes. For example, these researchers showed that the H. atacamensis differed from H. marelatus, H. downesi and H. amazonensis based on position of hemizonid (a nematode sensory organ), position of excretory pore and female tail terminus shape, and number and position of genital papillae, respectively. Using molecular techniques, Edgington et al. (2011) were also able to distinguish H. atacamensis from closely related entomopathogenic nematode species, H. safricana.
Research Paper
Edgington, S., Buddie, A. G., Moore, D., France, A., Merino, L. and Hunt, D. J. 2011. Heterorhabditis atacamensis n. sp (Nematoda: Heterorhabditidae), a new entomopathogenic nematode from the Atacama Desert, Chile. Journal of Helminthology 85: 381-394.