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 . end of file. 



CIRCULAR No. 457 APRIL 1938 



UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



WASHINGTON, D. C. 



MUSHROOM PESTS AND THEIR CONTROL 



By A. C. Davis, assistant entomologist, Division of Truck Crop and Garden 

 Insect Investigations, Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine 



CONTENTS 



Page 



Introduction 1 



Importance of proper composting for control of 



mushroom pests 2 



Precautions to be observed in preparation of 



the mushroom house or cellar 3 



Spraying of the house 3 



Fumigation or sterilization of the house 



before filling 3 



Pest control during process^ f filling and heating 



of beds 7 



Natural and artificial heating 7 



Fumigation.. 9 



General sanitary measures 11 



Control of mushroom pests in bearing houses. 12 

 Principal pests attacking mushrooms and 



methods for their control 12 



Flies 12 



Mites 17 



Springtails 19 



Miscellaneous pests 20 



INTRODUCTION 



The great increase in both commercial and amateur mushroom 

 growing in the United States during the last 30 years has brought 

 increasingly to £ke attention of the growers the fact that cultivated 

 mushrooms are subject to serious loss from insects, mites, fungus 

 weeds, and diseases. This circular deals principally with the in- 

 sects and mites that attack mushrooms and with their control. 

 Especially in such districts as southeastern Pennsylvania, which pro- 

 duces more than 50 percent of the mushrooms grown in the United 

 States, where some mushrooms are grown at all seasons of the year, 

 and in which the industry is greatly concentrated, insect and mite 

 pests are a constant menace. 



Mushroom flies (Sciaridae), manure flies (Phoridae), the mush- 

 room mite, and the long-legged mite are the most important pests of 

 cultivated mushrooms in the United States. In addition to these, 

 however, there are several other pests of lesser importance. 



Extensive experiments have demonstrated that the control of 

 mushroom insects and mites, once they have become established in 

 the houses, 1 is very difficult, owing to the extreme sensitiveness of 

 the mushrooms to chemicals, and because the chemicals that have 

 so far been in use and are known to be safe to use do not readily 

 penetrate into the beds. Nevertheless, by means of sanitation, proper 

 composting and heating, and fumigation, these pests can be reduced 

 in numbers or entirely eliminated before the beds are spawned, and 

 largely prevented from entering the houses thereafter. 



1 The general term "mushroom house", as used in this circular, refers to any loca- 

 tion where mushrooms are grown. 



