Field experiments on the ability ofArthrobotrys oligospora(Hyphomycetales) to reduce the number of larvae ofCooperia oncophora(Trichostrongylidae) in cow pats and surrounding grass

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn field experiments, conducted on parasite-free grass plots in two consecutive summers, artificially prepared cow pats containingCooperia oncophora eggswere inoculated with the nematode-trapping fungusArthrobotrys oligospora. Numbers of infectiveC. oncophoralarvae isolated from the pats as well as from the surrounding herbage were subject to an approximately teh-fold reduction as compared with numbers in fungus-free pats and herbage surrounding these. This reduction was undoubtedly a result of entrapment of the parasite larvae within the faecal pats.