Anew soybean cyst nematode Heterodera sojae n. sp. was found from the roots of soybean plants in Korea. Cysts of H. sojae n. sp. appeared more round, shining, and darker than that of H. glycines. Morphologically, H. sojae n. sp. differed from H. glycines by fenestra length (23.5–54.2 μm vs. 30–70 μm),vulval silt length (9.0–24.4 μm vs. 43–60 μm), tail length of J2 (54.3–74.8 μm vs. 40–61 μm),and hyaline part of J2 (32.6–46.3 μm vs. 20–30 μm). It is distinguished from H. elachista by larger cyst (513.4–778.3 μm × 343.4– 567.1 μm vs. 350–560 μm × 250– 450 μm) and longer stylet length of J2 (23.8–25.3 μm vs. 17–19 μm). Molecular analysis of rRNA large subunit (LSU) D2–D3 segments and ITS gene sequence shows that H. sojae n. sp. is more close to rice cyst nematode H. elachista than H. glycines. Heterodera sojae n.sp. was widely distributed in Korea. It was found from soybean fields of all three provinces sampled.
