Environmental Entomology (1993) 22, 1201-1208

C.J. Geden, D.C. Steinhaus and D.A. Rutz (1993)
Evaluation of two methods for release of Entomophtera muscae (Entomophthorales: Entomophoraceae) to infect house flies (Diptera: Muscidae) on diary farms
Environmental Entomology 22 (5), 1201-1208
Abstract: Two methods for initiating epizootics of Entomophthora muscae (Cohn) Fresenius in house fly, Musca domestica L., populations were evaluated on New York dairy farms in areas of high fly activity using two release methods. Releases were started in mid June. Three farms were used for each treatment plus three control farms. The E. muscae used for the releases had been isolated from house flies collected from dairies the year before and had been maintained by continuous fly-to-fly passage. Prevalence rated on both types of E. muscae release farms were twice as high (23-28%) as on control farms (12%) in the weeks after the start of the releases. Releases were more effective on farms with high fly populations than on farms with low fly populations. Examination of conidia indicated that the releases strain (8-18 nuclei per conidium) became established as a result of the releases. Epizootics occurred on all farms, including controls, in September through November. Infections in the spring were exclusively with a strain of E. muscae with 2-8 nuclei per conidium; by fall, most infections were with a strain with 8-18 nuclei per conidium, even on control farms. Nuclear densities in the laboratory culture remained constant at 8-18 nuclei per conidium during this shift in wild infections. Neither of the E. muscae treatments significantly reduced fly populations.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Database assignments for author(s): Christopher J. Geden

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
evaluation - screening - selection
population dynamics/epizootiology

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Musca domestica		U.S.A. (NE)
Entomophthora muscae (entomopathogen)	Musca domestica		U.S.A. (NE)