author(s)
Chinchu P Babu and R Narayana

abstract
The study has been focused on the intra specific morphological variability of Meloidogyne incognita from different host plants in Kerala. On the basis of different levels of coefficient of variability for morphometric characters of mature females and perineal pattern, the characters body length, body width, neck length, length of median bulb, width of median bulb, length of vulval slit and anus to tail terminus were rated as moderately variable characters (CV 4.31% to 18.41%). In second stage juveniles, the characters anal body width and ratio c’ (tail length/ABW) were found to be moderately variable (CV 2.25% to 10.15%) whereas ratio c (length/tail length) was found to be highly variable (CV 4.43% to 12.15%). The characters like stylet length, ratio a (body length/body width), anus to vulval slit and interphasmidial distance of mature females and body length, stylet length, head to median bulb and tail length of second stage juveniles were recorded as least variable characters (CV 1.36% to 10.54%) and found useful in characterizing the species. Most of the characters were in conformity with the type description of M. incognita except for some variations, which have been discussed.