Hexamermis eurygasteri n. sp. (Nematoda: Mermithidae) parasitising the sunn pest Eurygaster integriceps Puton (Hemiptera: Scutelleridae) in Turkey.

A new species of mermithid nematode, Hexamermis eurygasteri n. sp. (Nematoda: Mermithidae) is described as a parasite of the sunn pest Eurygaster integriceps Puton (Hemiptera: Scutelleridae) in Turkey. The combination of the following characters separate H. eurygasteri from other members of Hexamermis Steiner, 1924, as defined by Artyukhovsky (1990) and Kaiser (1991): amphidial pouch integrated into lateral cephalic papillae; amphidial openings minute; well-developed cuticular vulval cone; small vulval lips; vagina straight or slightly curved at tip, without reverse bend; spicules shorter in length than body diameter at cloaca; spicules straight, except occasionally for short bend at base; spicule tips bluntly rounded; and two double rows of genital papillae. This is the first description of a nematode parasite of a member of the Scutelleridae and the first description of a mermithid nematode from Turkey. This mermithid has potential as a biological control agent in an integrated control programme of the sunn pest.