Spodoptera frugiperda, Biology, Ecology and Control

The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is native to the Americas and it is a key pest of maize (Zea mays L.) and many other crops throughout the Americas, (Abrahams et al. 2017 and Sparks 1979). S. frugiperda has been reported for the first time in 2016 in Africa, in Nigeria, Sao Tomé [8] in Benin and Togo, (Nagoshi et al. 2017) causing significant damages to maize. This pest has been detected for the first time on the Indian subcontinent in mid-May 2018 in maize fields at the College of Agriculture, (UAHS), and Shivamogga. Similar information has also just been released based on independent investigations by the National Bureau of Agriculturally Important Microorganisms (NBAIR) under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Shylesha et al. 2018. Fall army worm feeds on all growth stages of maize but most frequently in the whorl of young plants up to 45 days old. Larvae usually consume a large amount of foliage and sometimes destroy the growing point of the plant. First instar larvae usually eat the green tissue from one side of the leaf, leaving the membranous epidermis on the other side intact.