Degree-day Models for Predicting Egg Hatch and Population Increase of Criconemella xenoplax

A degree-day model was derived to predict egg hatch for Criconemella xenoplax. Eggs collected from gravid females were incubated in distilled water at constant temperatures of 10-35 C. Sixty-six percent of all eggs hatched between 13 and 32 C, and 42% hatched at 10 C. All eggs aborted above 32.5 C. Between 25 and 32 C, 8.5 +/- 0.5 days were required for egg hatch. Degree-day requirement for egg hatch at 10-30 C was estimated to be 154 +/- 5 with a base of 9.03 +/- 0.04 C. This base of 9 C was adopted in studies of the relationship between degree-days and nematode population increase on Prunus seedlings grown 9-11 weeks in a greenhouse. Degree-day accumulations were based upon daily averages from maximum and minimum air temperatures. Ratios of final to initial population densities exhibited an exponential pattern in relation to degree-day accumulations with proportionate doubling increment of 0.100 +/- 0.049 every 139 +/- 8 degree-days. These results provide a means of predicting nematode population increase under greenhouse conditions and a basis for choosing sampling intervals when evaluating nematode multiplication.