Females do not move and continue to feed and swell. Females grow so large they rupture the root cortex and can be seen to the naked eye on the roots as white, lemon-shaped pinheads on the root. Females that have undergone parthenogenesis did not mate with a male and will fill with eggs. If a female mates with a male, it is completed once the female has ruptured the root and the posterior end is exposed to the soil where the males are. Once the female is filled with eggs, they will die and become thick-walled, leathery cysts that remain in the soil as survival structures with dormant eggs for many years. Host parasite relationship Heterodera sacchari has a narrow host range. Major host crop infected by this nematode include sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) and rice (Oryza sativa). Other plant hosts include bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon), Bread grass (Brachiaria brizantha), carpet grass (Axonopus compressus), jungle rice (Echinocloa brizantha), sour grass (Paspalum conjugatum), goose grass (Eleusine indica), palisadegrass (Urochloa brizantha) and wild sugarcane (Saccharum spontaneum). Management Reducing the movement of infested soil to other fields will help to decrease the occurrence. Cysts can be dispersed by the transport of soil on roots or machinery, as well as water, irrigation, and wind. Currently, there are no resistant varieties for rice or sugarcane, but there are partial resistance and tolerance. If it is possible, crop rotation with a non-host crop is recommended. References sacchari Plant pathogenic nematodes Sugarcane diseases Nematodes described in 1963 Taxa named by Michel Luc