LIFE CYCLEPlant-feeding nematodes go through 6 stages—an egg stage, 4 immature stages, and an adult stage. Many species can develop from egg to egg-laying adult in as little as 21 to 28 days during warm summer months. Immature stages and adult males are long, slender worms. Mature adult females of some species such as root knot nematode change to a swollen, pearlike shape, whereas females of other species such as lesion nematode remain slender worms. Nematodes are too small to be seen without a microscope.It is believed the root knot nematode survives from season to season primarily as eggs in the soil. After the eggs hatch, the second-stage juveniles invade roots, usually at root tips, causing some of the root cells to enlarge where the nematodes feed and develop. The male nematodes eventually leave the roots, but the females remain embedded, laying their eggs into a jellylike mass that extends through the root surface and into the soil.