Ovicidal fungi in soils of Cuba.

Thirty-six strains of ovicidal fungi were isolated from 122 investigated soil samples collected in Cuba. The isolated strains belong to 8 genera, 2 strains consist of sterile mycelium only. Most of the strains belong to the genus Fusarium (4 species, 1 undetermined strain), the remaining ones to Mortierella (3 species and 6 undetermined strains), Humicola (2 species), Paecilomyces (2 species) and Penicillium (2 species). The genera Verticillium, Gliocladium and Cunninghamella were represented by one species each. A majority of isolated strains exhibited a high to very high ovicidal activity immediately after isolation; strains with a lower initial activity occurred only exceptionally. The high ovicidal activity has been preserved till now in the following five strains: Paecilomyces marquandii (2 strains), Fusarium solani f. spec. radicicola (1 strain), Mortierella sp. (1 strain) and the sterile mycelium (1 strain).