This pest is is not known to be a vector and it is not vectored by any organism.

Visual survey: symptoms of low infection are difficult to detect; to accurately assess or confirm infection it is necessary to sample tillers in the field. Tillers should be cut above the peduncle (the stalk bearing the inflorescence), because nematodes are not found in the internodes below the growing point.

1.Nematode collection: Collect nematodes by washing them off of plant material; nematodes can be easily extracted from plant pieces placed in a small container or Baermann funnel with water and left for 24 hours or overnight before examining material; rolled leaves or young inflorescence can be teased apart in a Petri dish or water and observed immediately for nematodes. A mist chamber can also be used for nematode extraction from plant tissue.

2.Sample submission: Submit samples to a nematology diagnostic lab for identification.

No specific signs are present.

Infected plants with mottling arranged in a splash pattern; twisted leaves or panicles; panicles that fail to emerge or have sterile grain.

Morphological: Characteristics of males, females, and juveniles (Seshadri and Dasgupta, 1975; Mian and Latif, 1994; Das and Bajaj, 2008).

Mainly distinguished from other species based on tail shape and size, relative length of the stylet and post-vulval sac, and the number of cuticular lateral lines (Fortuner, 1982).

Damage and juvenile and female morphology are similar to that of Aphelenchoides besseyi.

Biochemical: Ibrahim et al. (1994a) used esterase and protein patterns to distinguish two species of Aphelenchoides from other Aphelenchoides species and from Ditylenchus angustus and D. myceliophagus.

Molecular: RFLP analyses have proven successful for distinguishing species of Ditylenchus (Wendt et al., 1993). PCR studies using a fragment of ribosomal DNA have also been used to separate D. angustus from Aphelenchoides (Ibrahim et al., 1994b).

This nematode is a serious damaging pest of rice in the Far East and can be introduced with contaminated plant debris and soil.

D. angustus can increase the nitrogen content of rice plants and thus the plants become more susceptible to the plant pathogen Pyricularia oryzae (rice blast).