Micoletzkya

Micoletzkya is a genus of predatory bark-beetle-associated nematodes in the family Diplogastridae. The genus was named for the Austrian nematologist Heinrich Micoletzky. As of 2013 it consists of 25 described species.

== Ecology and life history == Nematodes of Micoletzkya live in symbiosis with bark beetles. The hosts include economically important species across North America and Europe such as the mountain pine beetle Dendroctonus ponderosae and European spruce bark beetle Ips typographus. The life history of the nematodes is closely linked to that of their hosts. Infective (dauer) larvae of Micoletzkya attach themselves onto the body surface of a beetle for transmission and resume their development in host breeding galleries. In the bark beetle galleries, nematodes go through a few free-living generations, presumably feeding on beetle-associated microorganisms and other nematodes, after which dauer larvae develop and attach to newly emerging bark beetles for transmission.