D3200: Food or fungus: An examination of house fly response to different concentrations of a fungal biopesticide

House flies are pests tightly associated with decaying organic matter (e.g. rotting food, manure) in both agricultural and urban settings. House flies are nuisances in homes and farms and can even contribute to the spread of disease-causing bacteria. House fly populations are controlled by sanitation measures, but when sanitation measures do not provide adequate control of fly populations, pesticides are often used. Repeated use of the same control method can lead flies to evolve resistance to that control. Pesticides can also harm non-targeted organisms (e.g., pollinators, plants). Alternative control methods, such as biopesticides, are suggested as targeted methods to control house fly populations. This study examines the suitability of Botanigard ES, a fungal biopesticide currently used against insect crop-pests but being considered as a component in a sugar bait against house flies. A series of choice experiments were completed using a pesticide-susceptible strain and a wild-type strain of house flies to determine if house flies will stay as long on sugar cubes containing low, medium, and high amounts of Botanigard ES compared to a control sugar cube. House flies were provided water only after emerging as adults and then placed in a choice arena with a control cube and a fungal cube for 5 minutes. Their duration on each sugar cube was determined; the difference in time spent on the fungal sugar cube minus on the control did not statistically differ regardless of fungal concentration and house fly strain.