title: Pandora bullata (Entomophthoromycota: Entomophthorales) affecting calliphorid flies in central Brazil.
abstract: Fungi are where one finds them, and if one seeks fungal pathogens affecting flies, then a garbage dump may be an ideal place to find both persistent, abundant fly populations and their fungal pathogens. An obvious fungal epizootic affecting the oriental latrine fly, Chrysomya megacephala (Diptera: Calliphoridae), was observed over several days in mid-February 2015 at the local garbage dump adjacent to the city of Cavalcante, northern Goiás. This site harbored large populations of both C. megacephala and a Musca sp. (Diptera: Muscidae) but only the population of oriental latrine fly was affected by any fungal pathogen and presented unusually dense populations of fresh cadavers. The fungus was identifiable as Pandora bullata (Entomophthorales: Entomophthoraceae) only after a very small number of characteristically decorated resting spores were found in these flies two months later; this represents the first Brazilian (and South American) record of this species. P. bullata is known previously from a small number of North American, European and Australian collections, all of which have included relatively abundant production of resting spores. We cannot dismiss the possibility that the extremely sparse formation of resting spores at this Brazilian site may be due to abiotic factors such as latitude (13°46'40.53″S), day length, ambient temperatures, or even the precipitation patterns in this mid-tropical montaine site. Epizootic events affecting calliphorids in Brazil strengthen the interest in entomophthoran pathogens for biological control of flies.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Patologia de Invertebrados (LPI), Instituto de Patologia Tropical e Saúde Pública (IPTSP), Universidade Federal de Goiás (UFG), Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil.
authors.forename: Cristian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Montalva
authors.affiliation: Centro Universitário de Gurupí (UnirG), Gurupí, Tocantins, Brazil.
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Collier
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Patologia de Invertebrados (LPI), Instituto de Patologia Tropical e Saúde Pública (IPTSP), Universidade Federal de Goiás (UFG), Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil. Electronic address: wchrisluz@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Luz
authors.affiliation: USDA-ARS Emerging Pests and Pathogens Research Unit, Robert W. Holley Center for Agriculture and Health, Ithaca, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Humber
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil; D004175:Diptera / Q000382:microbiology*; D020091:Entomophthorales / Q000502:physiology*; D009117:Muscidae / Q000382:microbiology; D010572:Pest Control, Biological
keywords: Chrysomya; Diptera; Entomopathogenic fungi; Entomophthoromycota; Natural enemy