Thread subject: Diptera.info :: Entomophthora cf. muscae or ferdinandii or schizophorae spore sprayed out of dead Drosophila

Posted by Ray Perry on 16-08-2018 17:10
#1
Flensburg, N.Germany, 15th August 2018, drought.

Found this dead fly (is it Drosophilidae), with raised wings, stuck to near the top of my kitchen window. On either side, opposite it's abdomen is a fan of white speckles, almost 2cm long on one side and about a cm on the other side. They appear to have been blown out of the fly. Am I correct in assuming that these specks are the spoor of Entomophthora muscae which infected and killed the host?

Thanks in advance
Ray
Edited by Ray Perry on 20-08-2018 20:37

Posted by Ray Perry on 16-08-2018 17:11
#2
detail

Posted by Ray Perry on 16-08-2018 17:12
#3
scale in mm divisions

Posted by Ray Perry on 16-08-2018 17:17
#4
I wonder if the other fly in this image will be infected?

Posted by Ray Perry on 16-08-2018 17:24
#5
wing of infected, dead fly which I think might be Drosophilidae.

Posted by Jan Maca on 16-08-2018 19:08
#6
As concerns the fly, it belongs to Drosophila melanogaster group. The fungus belongs indeed to Entomophthorales, but I would be cautious in species determination; there are about three hundred of described species, most of them parasitizing insects, apparently there is not only one on Diptera.
A mycologist, or mycological literature, could give you muh more of interesting information.

Posted by Ray Perry on 17-08-2018 13:21
#7
Thank you very much Jan.