Insect and pests

a. Sciarid flies:

– Adult flies are small, black or dark brown.

– They lay on compost, casing soil or on mushroom.

– The larvae feed and burrow up into mushroom, larvae also burrow mature mushroom and reduce marketable value.

b. Phorids:

– Megaselia sp larvae damage the spawn, larvae tunnel into the mushroom tissues

c. Mites:

–  Tryoglyphid mites can cause considerable or complete destruction of spawn in the beds. – – They feed on mushroom and make hole.

– Excessive watering should be avoided for preventing mite infection. also non pasteurized compost also induce mite infection.

d. Nematodes:

– Maximum damage is done by pathogenic nematodes Ditylenchus mycliophagus and

Aphlenchoides composticola, their mode of feeding results in damage to mycelium leading to secondary infection of the cell contents by bacteria.

– Caused due to unpasteurized compost and casing soil.