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Mosquito and copepod host range tests with Coelomomyces psorophorae (Blastocladiales, Chytridiomycetes)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2011

J. Margalit
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel
Z. Evenchik
Affiliation:
Institute for Biological Research, Ness Ziona, Israel
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Abstract

An extensive survey for natural pathogens and parasites of mosquitoes as prospective biological control agents was carried out in Israel. Coelomomyces (Class, Chytridiomycetes; Order, Blastocladiales), a fungal genus of which all but a few members are specific to mosquitoes, was not known to be present in Israeli waters. Therefore, mosquito and copepod host-range tests were conducted with Coelomomyces psorophorae obtained from abroad, in order to test the desirability of introducing Coelomomyces as a contribution to mosquito control. Acanthocyclops viridis, a cosmopolitan copepod relatively common in Israel, was duly infected with Coelomomyces psorophorae. However, the infectivity of Israel's most common pest mosquitoes (Culex pipiens complex) proved low.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © ICIPE 1983

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References

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