Investigations on the Emergence of Larvae from Cysts of the Potato-Root Eelworm Heterodera rostochiensis 2. The Form of the Hatching Curve

Abstract

Experiments were conducted in which single cysts and batches of 100 cysts were exposed to the action of potato-root diffusate and the number of larvae liberated at the end of certain intervals of time recorded. Investigation showed that when the hatch at the end of each time interval was expressed as a probit of the total hatch, and plotted against the logarithm of that time, a close approximation to linearity resulted. Statistical analysis confirmed this agreement in the case of single cyst hatching, but disclosed a significant degree of asymmetry in the case of multiple hatching. It was decided that the degree of curvature resulting from this when plotted as a probit line was sufficiently small for it to be ignored.