Nearly all the major crop pests in California–including plant parasitic nematodes–have been introduced on or in host plants or as contaminants on articles of commerce. There are, however, a number of nematode species of serious economic importance in other parts of the world which are not known to occur in California. The golden nematode is a serious pest of potato in Europe and on Long Island, New York; the sting nematode injures many crops in the southeastern states; the soybean cyst nematode, in the Mississippi Valley and other southeastern states, attacks soybean, snapbean, and other plants of the bean family; and the burrowing nematode, reported to be the cause of spreading decline of citrus in Florida, are some of the nematode species not yet established in California.