( nary biologists believe the pests were ...)Techniques available to detect soil that inhibits destructive soybean pest

The females of the species use a short, hypodermic needle-like mouth to pierce soybean roots and suck out the nutrients. As the adult female ages, she fills with eggs, turns yellow and then brown to become the nematode cyst. At that point her body is a case to protect hundreds of eggs while they mature, hatch into juveniles and leave the cyst to further attack the plant roots. Swollen females can be seen with the naked eye, but worm-like juveniles and males can best be seen with a microscope.

As nematodes steal nutrients from the roots, the plants are weakened and don't grow well. Subsequently, plants may be more vulnerable to attack by other stresses, such as insects, diseases and drought.

It's often impossible to see symptoms of soybean cyst nematode damage, so soil and roots must be tested to reveal or confirm the pests' presence. Infestation gradually causes progressively lower yields and the worst cases result in yellow and stunted soybean plants. Plants with severe, visible damage can occur in patches in highly infested fields.

There are no pesticides that will eradicate soybean cyst nematode, which also preys on other legumes and some grasses.