Methods for preventing damage to bottle-cultivated Flammulina velutipes mushrooms by the fungus gnat, Mycetophila ishiharai

Abstract

Pest control methods for the fungus gnat, Mycetophila ishiharai, were developed to prevent damage to the bottle-cultivated mushroom species, Flammulina velutipes. Fungus gnats were found to reproduce on the wild fruiting bodies of Flammulina velutipes and Pleurotus ostreatus, as well as on fruiting bodies that had been discarded in the vicinity of the cultivation facility. Despite the presence of adult gnats outside the entrance of the sprouting room and around the ventilation equipment in the morning and at dusk, no gnats were visible at these locations during the daytime. Further, there was no evidence of reproduction in the cultivation facility. It is considered that fungus gnats emerging on wild Flammulina velutipes and Pleurotus ostreatus locate and then reproduce on fruiting bodies of Flammulina velutipes that have been discarded in the vicinity of the cultivation facility, and that they then manage to access the cultivation facility. Damage by fungus gnats could potentially be reduced by: (1) ceasing the disposal of waste fruiting bodies around the cultivation facility to prevent gnat emergence; (2) installing double doors at the entrance and covering the vent openings with fine netting to prevent gnats from entering the sprouting room, and restricting human access to the sprouting room to the day-time hours when the fungus gnats are least active; (3) installing an attract-and-kill trap in the sprouting room to kill adult fungus gnats in the event that they enter the sprouting room.