Proper culturing of predatory nematodes involves meeting
critical requirements, such as temperature, moisture
and prey availability, for all life stages of the species.
Adult mononchs feed randomly on nematode prey in culture
and do not tend to satiate (Cobb, 1917; Mankau,
1980). Conversely, early juvenile stages cannot rely on
feeding upon live prey for nourishment due to their small
size, and it has been hypothesised that juveniles receive
∗ Corresponding author, e-mail: k_a_salinas@yahoo.com
nourishment from other sources such as soil particles,
agar, or bacteria (Grootaert & Maertens, 1976).
In this study, we describe the fecundity of C. papillatus
in plate cultures and demonstrate the optimal temperature
range for in vitro reproduction of the nematode. We explore
the potential interaction among adults and juvenile
C. papillatus in culture and observe that juveniles may
require adult maceration of prey nematodes for proper development
in vitro.