The development of integrated pest management for the control of mushroom sciarid flies, Lycoriella ingenua (Dufour) and Bradysia ocellaris (Comstock), in cultivated mushrooms.

Mushrooms are susceptible to a range of diseases and pests that can cause serious crop loss. Effective pest and pathogen control is a very important factor for the maintenance of efficient production of cultivated mushrooms. Integrated pest management in mushrooms is reliant upon four main principals/elements: sanitation, exclusion, monitoring and pest control.

Effect of compost and casing treatments of insecticides against the sciarid Bradysia ocellaris (Diptera: Sciaridae) and on the total yield of cultivated mushrooms, Agaricus bisporus.

Background: Bradysia ocellaris (Comstock) is one of the major pests of cultivated mushrooms, Agaricus bisporus (Lange) Imbach. The feeding of sciarid fly larvae causes damage to the cultivation substrates, compost and casing. A comparative study of insecticidal treatments incorporated into compost and casing against B.