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Abstract: In a controUed-infestation experiment, the white mushroom cecid Heteropeza pygmaea was introduced into a mushroom crop, at spawning or at casing, at rates of 2,20 or 200 larvae/tray (0.56 m2). It caused significant reductions in both total and marketable weight of mushrooms in relation to the infestation level. Similar reductions in total and marketable numbers of mushrooms were also recorded. These losses were greater when the larvae were introduced at spawning rather than at casing. When introduced at spawning, just two cecid larvae/tray resulted in populations during croppmg that caused a 12% loss in total yield - in addition to a 7% loss due to spoilage. A significant reduction in mushroom size (27%) was shown in the fourth flush at the highest infestation rate at spawning. In the future, therefore, both yield suppression and spoilage should be taken into account when assessing yield losses due to cecid infestations.
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