The soybean cyst nematode Heterodera glycines causes great yield losses to soybean in Brazil. There are 11 races occurring in Brazil and, in the Maranhão State, only the race 9 was reported. The objective of this work was to establish the life cycle of a H. glycines race 9 population, on soybean, under tropical weather conditions. The experiment was carried out on a wired greenhouse at Embrapa Soybean - Balsas Experimental Station, Maranhão, Brazil. The average temperature was 28,7 ºC in the soil and 31,7 ºC in the air, and the relative humidity of the air was 49,8 %. Seedlings of soybean cultivar BRS Sambaíba were transferred to pots containing sandy soil infested with 4000 eggs of H. glycines race 9. The numbers of females and cysts per plant root were evaluated at 17, 20, 23, 26, 29 and 32 days after soil infestation. The average number of female increased significantly between the 17th and 29th days after soil infestation, and started decrease on 32nd day, when start to appear the first cysts. In these experimental conditions, H. glycines race 9 ended its life cycle in 29 days after soil infestation. In this way, it is possible to occur three to four generations of the nematode during the soybean cycle in Balsas, Maranhão, Brazil.
soybean cyst nematode; Glycine max; epidemiology
