MUSHROOM PESTS AXD THEIR CONTROL 13 



and ventilators may be made fly-tight with, cheesecloth, or. better, 30- 

 mesh copper screen, if it is found possible to do so without interfering 

 too much with ventilation. This prevents the entrance of flies and 

 also of any mushroom mites or diseases that they may be carrying. 



Control of individual species of pests is discussed under separate 

 headings. 



In passing from a house infested with mushroom pests to one not so 

 infested, great care should be taken that no insects are carried on the 

 person or clothing. 



All stem butts and discarded mushrooms should be carried away 

 and burned, or placed in a hole, then covered with quicklime or kero- 

 sene and a layer of earth. They should never be allowed to stand 

 about the house. 



When the house has finished bearing and is about to be cleaned out, 

 it should be allowed to dry out thoroughly and be fumigated if possi- 

 ble. In any case, the spent compost should be hauled to some dis- 

 tance from the houses. 



CONTROL OF MUSHROOM PESTS IN BEARING HOUSES 



After the beds have been cased, the temperature should be kept 

 rather low. For the best results it should be possible to maintain an 

 air temperature ranging from 50° to 55° F. A temperature below 

 55° is more to be desired than one above that level, as the lower tem- 

 perature seems to be favorable for mushroom growth and is low 

 enough to retard materially the development of insect and other pests 

 of mushrooms. 



The purpose of the treatments and practices recommended in the 

 preceding sections is to prevent the infestation of beds. To date no 

 entirely satisfactory methods have been devised for the control of 

 insects and mites in the beds after the beds have been spawned. The 

 majority of the chemicals used for this purpose either do not pene- 

 trate the beds deeply enough or they have a harmful effect upon the 

 spawn, which is very easily damaged. 



PRINCIPAL PESTS ATTACKING MUSHROOMS AND 

 METHODS FOR THEIR CONTROL 



Pests in mushroom plantings may be roughly divided into four 

 groups: Flies, mites, springtails. and miscellaneous pests. 



Flies 



All things considered, flies seem to be the most destructive 

 insects attacking the mushroom crop. The injury consists of 

 the feeding of the maggots on the spawn in the becls and the tunnel- 

 ing into the stems and caps of the mushrooms, rendering them unfit 

 for use. No direct damage is done by the adult flies, but the indirect 

 damage they cause in transporting mites and disease organisms from 

 bed to bed and from house to house, while difficult to estimate, seems 

 to be nearly if not quite as important. 3 



3 Charles, Vera K., and Popexoe, C. H. some mushroom diseases and their carriers. 

 U. S. Dept. Agr. Cir. 27, 9 pp., illus. 1928. 



