Desmodorinae Micoletzky, 1924

Armenteros, Maickel, Ruiz-Abierno, Alexei & Decraemer, Wilfrida, 2014, Revision of Desmodorinae and Spiriniinae (Nematoda: Desmodoridae) with redescription of eight known species, European Journal of Taxonomy 96, pp. 1-32 : 5

Subfamily Desmodorinae Micoletzky, 1924

Type genus

Desmodora de Man, 1889 (syn. Mastodex Steiner, 1921: 25 ).

Diagnosis [emended from Decraemer & Smol (2006) and Verschelde et al. (2006)]

Head capsule conspicuous, characterized by the thickened cuticle and mostly with an external demarcation between labial and cephalic regions, except in Sibayinema Swart & Heyns, 1991 ( Verschelde et al. 2006). Amphidial fovea not surrounded by cuticle striations (but the posterior border of the fovea may contact the first annuli). Buccal cavity always with distinct teeth. Cuticle usually coarsely striated.

The diagnosis proposed by Verschelde et al. (2006) was expanded to include other features (e.g., demarcation between labial and cephalic region, buccal cavity) and we extended the presence of body coarse annuli as diagnostic feature for the subfamily. The modifications to the diagnosis by Decraemer and Smol (2006) were mainly the addition of the external demarcation as diagnostic feature and the deletion of the pharyngeal bulb that is a diagnostic feature to family level.