Ectoparasites - feeding from the surface of plants. Endoparasites - penetrate the plant tissue. The male has a testis, seminal vesicle, and a terminus in a common opening with the intestine. A pair of protrusible, copulatory spicules are also present in the male. Reproduction in nematodes is through eggs and may be sexual, hermaphroditic, or parthenogenetic.
Many species lack males.
In most cases these juveniles look the same as the adults but smaller. Adults are sexually mature. Plant parasitic nematodes are obligate parasites. Second stage juveniles hatch from eggs and move to host plants to feed. NOTE - many nematodes interact with other pathogens.