Mass trapping using a new-designed light trap as a viable alternative to insecticides for the management of dipteran pests of cultivated mushrooms

In Turkey, mushroom flies (Diptera: Phoridae, Sciaridae, Scatopsidae, Cecidomyiidae) are the most serious insect pest problems, affecting the cultivation of white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus (Lange) Imbach (Agaricaceae). The light traps used against these pests are of low efficiency because they have normally been designed to catch houseflies or other large flies. The aims of this study were: (i) to design a new electric light trap that can effectively catch mushroom flies of all sizes (0.6 to 5 mm long), and (ii) to evaluate its efficiency in controlling mushroom flies by mass trapping of their adults. A two-year collaboration between the authors and a local company (Kekova Energy, Antalya, Turkey) was carried out to design this type of light trap. After developing the trap, its efficiency against mushroom flies was tested in two separate mushroom growing periods, and experiments were conducted in two mushroom production rooms of a local company (Akse Mantar, Korkuteli, Antalya). In each growing period, in one room, the light trap was tested at a density of 1 trap/15 m2, whereas in the other room, traditional growing system, based largely on the use of synthetic insecticides against mushroom flies, was implemented for comparison. Results showed that mass trapping using the new-designed light trap reduced the incidence of sporophore damage by the larvae of mushroom flies in both growing periods and resulted in significantly lower damage rates (8.8% and 11.3% in the first and second growing periods, respectively) when compared with the traditional room (19.1% and 24.8%, respectively). Moreover, significant yield increase in both growing periods occurred in the light trap room (4.4 and 4.0 kg total yield/15 kg packaged-pasteurized and spawned compost) compared with traditional room (3.6 and 3.3 kg, respectively). Results suggested that mass trapping using the new-designed light trap can be used as a viable alternative to insecticides in the control of mushroom flies.