MUSHROOM PESTS AND THEIR CONTROL 



25 



free from rubbish so as to offer as little refuge as possible to these 

 pests. Although they are capable of withstanding intense cold, they 

 are easily killed by heat. In the case of Lepidocyrtus lanuginosus 

 Gmel., a springtail found doing damage in commercial houses in 

 Ohio, it has been determined that heating infested mushroom houses 

 to a temperature of approximately 104° F. for 10 minutes will kill 

 the majority, if not all, of them. For this reason it is important 

 that the houses go through a good heat, and that the bottom beds 

 and floor be also well heated. Otherwise springtails escaping from 

 the upper beds will 

 survive on the floor 

 and bottom beds and 

 later reinfest the en- 

 tire house. 



As in the case of 

 the mushroom mite, 

 springtails in the 

 beds are very difficult 

 to control, since in- 

 secticides do not pene- 

 trate the beds well, 

 and only the insects 

 on the surface are 

 killed. Sometimes 

 by lightly spraying 

 the beds with water 

 4 or 5 hours before 

 treatment the spring- 

 tails may be brought 

 to the surface, and 

 more of them killed 

 by subsequent ap- 

 plications of insecti- 

 cides. 



Fumigation with calcium cyanide at the rate of 2 ounces per 1,000 

 cubic feet of air space is also fairly effective. 



Some species of springtails have a habit of congregating in mush- 

 room houses at certain times in enormous numbers, looking like piles 

 of gray powder in the aisles. Whenever springtails are found con- 

 gregating in the aisles of a house they should be swept up and burned 

 or otherwise destroyed. 



A 3-percent nicotine-lime dust is effective against springtails if it 

 comes into actual contact with them. 



Springtails are very active, and during the course of the season a 

 great number will find their way to the floor of the house. Bands of 

 sticky tree-banding material or nicotine about the bed supports will 

 prevent many of these from climbing up into the beds again. 



Miscellaneous Pests 



Figuee 10. — Two species of springtails that attack 

 mushrooms: A, Lepidocyrtus lanuginosus, X 30; 

 B, Achorutes armatus, X 60. 



A small mycetophagid beetle, Litargus balteatus Lee, has become a 

 pest, during the last few years, in at least two mushroom establish- 

 ments in the West. Very little is known of this insect or of methods 

 for controlling it. 



