Survey of termite-inhabited soil and mosquito breeding sites in Lucknow, India for potential mycopathogens of Anopheles stephensi

During a short survey of soil and mosquito breeding sites in Lucknow, India for potential mycopathogen from a period of August-October 1996, 11 specie s of fungi in 5 genera were isolated using live mosquito larvae as host. As pergillus flavus , A. fumigatus and Fusarium semitectum were the most frequ ently isolated species. Other fungi recorded were A. niger , A. ochraceus , A. terreus , A. versicolor , Geotrichum candidum , Penicillium verrucosum , Paecilomyces sp. and Fusarium sp. (Liseola/Elegans complex). Insect cell walls are known to contain chitin, so fungal isolates were tested for their chitinase activity on semi synthetic medium containing colloidal chitin. H igh chitinolytic activities were observed with A. flavus and A. ochraceus. Chitinase producers can be considered as potential pathogens. However, the higher incidence of F. semitectum could not be explained by inability to ut ilize chitin.