The ability of the nematode-trapping fungus Duddingtonia flagrans to reduce the transmission of infective Ostertagia ostertagi larvae from faeces to herbage

The ability of two isolates of the nematode-trapping fungus Duddingtonia flagrans to reduce the numbers of gastrointestinal nematode larvae on herbage was tested in three plot studies. Artificially prepared cow pats containing Ostertagia ostertagi eggs, with and without fungal spores, were deposited on pasture plots two or three times during the grazing season in 1995, 1996 and 1997. The herbage around each pat was sampled fortnightly over a period of 2 months and the number of infective larvae was recorded. At the end of the sampling period, the remainder of the faecal pats was collected to determine the wet weight, dry weight, and content of organic matter. The infective larvae remaining in the pats were extracted. Faecal cultures showed that both fungal isolates significantly reduced the number of infective larvae. Significantly fewer larvae were recovered from herbage surrounding fungus-treated pats compared with control pats in all three experiments, reflecting the ability of the fungus to destroy free-living larval stages in the faecal pat environment. After 8 weeks on pasture there were no differences between control and fungus-treated pats with respect to wet weight, dry weight, and organic matter content. This indicates that the degradation of faeces was not negatively affected by the presence of the fungus.