What is a nematode?
Nematodes are animals. They are free living, non-segmented, roundworms that may exist as plant or animal parasites. Some species are involved in the breakdown of organic matter in the soil (saprophytes). What is SCN? Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) is a type of nematode that parasitizes plants, particularly soybeans and closely related plant species (dry or snap beans, peas, and some forages: sweetclover, vetch, lespedeza, birdsfoot trefoil. It’s called a cyst nematode because of the way it reproduces and survives. The female nematode swells and fills with eggs. As it female ages and matures, she dies and her body turns a darker amber to brownish color, referred to as the cyst stage. Offspring will hatch from eggs held in the cyst. Where did SCN come from? SCN is thought to have been introduced to the United States from Japan. It was first identified in the US in 1954, from a field in North Carolina. It has since spread to 26 states and one Canadian province and is the most damaging pest o
