The phylogeny of nematode-endoparasitic Hirsutella species was studied based on morphology and DNA sequence analysis. Hirsutella vermicola is proposed as a new species that preys on bacteria-feeding nematodes and nonpathogenic or weakly pathogenic to plant-parasitic nematodes. It is distinguished from H. rhossiliensis by having shorter conidiogenous cells with a swollen base, helical necks and slightly wider conidia. Phylogenetic trees based on sequences of the ITS region, MAPK gene fragment, and the combined data revealed two clusters corresponding to these...
