Updated Records of Philippine Entomophthorales

Many species of fungi under the ·order Entomo_phthorales are important pathogens of arthropods often resulting rn high mortalities and natural control of field populations of insects and mites. Recognizing the presence of these fungi may aid in developing better management strategy .to control these pests. This paper is a review of the various studies on Philippine Entomophthorales. Early and recent identification of entomopathogenic fungi was done in collaboration with foreign scientists. A total of 19 species under 9 genera are now included in the record of Philippine Entomophthorales. Of these species, the most common ,are Neozygites fresenii (Nowakowski) Remaudiere & Keller infecting aphids and Zoophthora radicans (Brefeld) Batko infecting several insect species. Six species under Genera Batkoa, Entomophthora,Furia, and Neozygites are cited as recently described. Batkoa (Entomophaga) bukidnonensis {Virlacarlos & Wildrng) Villacarlos is a new combination. The potential ·of Batkoa amrascae and N. fresenii as biological control agents was discussed.in relation to their biological characteristics. Epizootiology of these species was also described together with the N. heteropsyllae, Z. radicans, Pandora blunkii (Lakon &Zimm.) Humber. Weather conditions and host density affect the occurrence of epizootics in the insect population. Entomophthorales are highly density-dependent; hence, they remain unnoticed when the insect population is low. Two isolates of N. fresenii differ in their virulence to certain aphid species and in the length of their capilliconidiophore. The possibility of using the latter character to identify these isolates, together with other tutu re research based on information presented, is discussed.