scholarly journals Effects of distance from semi-natural habitat on fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda, J. E. Smith) and its potential natural enemies in Ghana

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Matthew W. Jordon ◽  
Talya D. Hackett ◽  
Fred Aboagye-Antwi ◽  
Vincent Y. Eziah ◽  
Owen T. Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Natural Enemies ◽  
Spodoptera Frugiperda ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Fall Armyworm ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Leaf Damage ◽  
Crop Damage ◽  
Biological Pest Control ◽  
Sub Saharan

Abstract Insect crop pests are a major threat to food security in sub-Saharan Africa. Configuration of semi-natural habitat within agricultural landscapes has the potential to enhance biological pest control, helping to maintain yields whilst minimising the negative effects of pesticide use. Fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda, J. E. Smith) is an increasingly important pest of maize in sub-Saharan Africa, with reports of yield loss between 12 and 45%. We investigated the patterns of fall armyworm leaf damage in maize crops in Ghana, and used pitfall traps and dummy caterpillars to assess the spatial distribution of potential fall armyworm predators. Crop damage from fall armyworm at our study sites increased significantly with distance from the field edge, by up to 4% per m. We found evidence that Araneae activity, richness and diversity correspondingly decreased with distance from semi-natural habitat, although Hymenoptera richness and diversity increased. Our preliminary findings suggest that modifying field configuration to increase the proximity of maize to semi-natural habitat may reduce fall armyworm damage and increase natural enemy activity within crops. Further research is required to determine the level of fall armyworm suppression achievable through natural enemies, and how effectively this could safeguard yields.

scholarly journals Experiences and Perspectives on Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Management in Sub-Saharan Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Njuguna ◽  
Phophi Nethononda ◽  
Karim Maredia ◽  
Ruth Mbabazi ◽  
Paul Kachapulula ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spodoptera Frugiperda ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Integrated Management ◽  
Fall Armyworm ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Invasive Pest ◽  
Published Evidence ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Lepidoptera Noctuidae

Abstract It has been over five years since the first report of an outbreak of the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Africa. The highly invasive pest, native to the Americas, has since spread across the African continent attacking many crops and causing significant yield loss to Africa’s staple crop, maize. From the onset of the outbreak, there have been massive and varied responses from farmers, governments and nongovernmental organizations. This mini-review provides various perspectives on S. frugiperda control in sub-Saharan Africa, building on previously published evidence, and experiences of the authors. It also highlights new technologies and lessons learned so far from the S. frugiperda outbreaks in sub-Saharan Africa, based on which suggestions on possible integrated management approaches are proffered.

scholarly journals Telenomus remus, a Candidate Parasitoid for the Biological Control of Spodoptera frugiperda in Africa, is already Present on the Continent

Insects ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Kenis ◽  
Hannalene du Plessis ◽  
Johnnie Van den Berg ◽  
Malick Ba ◽  
Georg Goergen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biological Control ◽  
Spodoptera Frugiperda ◽  
Fall Armyworm ◽  
Classical Biological Control ◽  
Egg Parasitoid ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Great Opportunity ◽  
Augmentative Biological Control ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Telenomus Remus

The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, a moth originating from tropical and subtropical America, has recently become a serious pest of cereals in sub-Saharan Africa. Biological control offers an economically and environmentally safer alternative to synthetic insecticides that are being used for the management of this pest. Consequently, various biological control options are being considered, including the introduction of Telenomus remus, the main egg parasitoid of S. frugiperda in the Americas, where it is already used in augmentative biological control programmes. During surveys in South, West, and East Africa, parasitized egg masses of S. frugiperda were collected, and the emerged parasitoids were identified through morphological observations and molecular analyses as T. remus. The presence of T. remus in Africa in at least five countries provides a great opportunity to develop augmentative biological control methods and register the parasitoid against S. frugiperda. Surveys should be carried out throughout Africa to assess the present distribution of T. remus on the continent, and the parasitoid could be re-distributed in the regions where it is absent, following national and international regulations. Classical biological control should focus on the importation of larval parasitoids from the Americas.

scholarly journals Transcriptional differences between the two host strains of Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Orsucci ◽  
Yves Moné ◽  
Philippe Audiot ◽  
Sylvie Gimenez ◽  
Sandra Nhim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spodoptera Frugiperda ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Fall Armyworm ◽  
Distinct Species ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Diet Preference ◽  
Rice Strain ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Lepidoptera Noctuidae

AbstractSpodoptera frugiperda, the fall armyworm (FAW), is an important agricultural pest in the Americas and an emerging pest in sub-Saharan Africa, India, East-Asia and Australia, causing damage to major crops such as corn, sorghum and soybean. While FAW larvae are considered polyphagous, differences in diet preference have been described between two genetic variants: the corn strain (sf-C) and the rice strain (sf-R). These two strains are sometimes considered as distinct species, raising the hypothesis that ost plant specialization might have driven their divergence. To test this hypothesis, we irst performed controlled reciprocal transplant (RT) experiments to address the impact of plant diet on several traits linked to the fitness of the sf-C and sf-R strains. The phenotypical data suggest that sf-C is specialized to corn. We then used RNA-Se to identify constitutive transcriptional differences between strains, regardless of diet, in laboratory as well as in natural populations. We found that variations in mitochon rial transcription levels are among the most substantial and consistent differences between the two strains. Since mitochondrial genotypes also vary between the strains, we believe the mitochondria may have a significant role in driving strain divergence.

scholarly journals Forecasting the global extent of invasion of the cereal pest Spodoptera frugiperda, the fall armyworm

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Regan Early ◽  
Pablo González-Moreno ◽  
Sean T. Murphy ◽  
Roger Day
Keyword(s):  
Spodoptera Frugiperda ◽  
Fall Armyworm ◽  
Maize Yield ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Potential Range ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Distribution Models ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Transportation Routes

AbstractFall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, is a crop pest native to the Americas, which has invaded and spread throughout sub-Saharan Africa within two years. Recent estimates of 20-50% maize yield loss in Africa suggest severe damage to livelihoods. Fall armyworm is still infilling its potential range in Africa, and could spread to other continents. In order to understand fall armyworm’s year-round, global, potential distribution, we used evidence of the effects of temperature and precipitation on fall armyworm life-history, combined with data on native and African distributions to construct Species Distribution Models (SDMs). Fall armyworm has only invaded areas that have a climate similar to the native distribution, validating the use of climatic SDMs. The strongest climatic limits on fall armyworm’s year-round distribution are the coldest annual temperature and the amount of rain in the wet season. Much of sub-Saharan Africa can host year-round fall armyworm populations, but the likelihoods of colonising North Africa and seasonal migrations into Europe are hard to predict. South and Southeast Asia and Australia have climate that would permit fall armyworm to invade. Current trade and transportation routes reveal Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand face high threat of fall armyworm invasions originating from Africa.

The Spread of Fall Armyworm (faw) Spodotera Frugiperda

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 213-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham Matthews
Keyword(s):  
Fall Armyworm ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Army Worm

The author introduces the next three articles on the invasion of Fall Army Worm into Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia describing how the pest spreads, the damage it causes and approaches to its control.

scholarly journals Impact of an Exotic Invasive Pest, Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), on Resident Communities of Pest and Natural Enemies in Maize Fields in Kenya

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1074
Author(s):  
Bonoukpoè Mawuko Sokame ◽  
Boaz Musyoka ◽  
Julius Obonyo ◽  
François Rebaudo ◽  
Elfatih M. Abdel-Rahman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Enemies ◽  
Spodoptera Frugiperda ◽  
Fall Armyworm ◽  
Invasive Pest ◽  
Growth Stages ◽  
Insect Communities ◽  
Exotic Invasive Species ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Exotic Invasive ◽  
Lepidoptera Noctuidae

The interactions among insect communities influence the composition of pest complexes that attack crops and, in parallel, their natural enemies, which regulate their abundance. The lepidopteran stemborers have been the major maize pests in Kenya. Their population has been regulated by natural enemies, mostly parasitoids, some of which have been used for biological control. It is not known how a new exotic invasive species, such as the fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae), may affect the abundance and parasitism of the resident stemborers. For this reason, pest and parasitism surveys have been conducted, before and after the FAW invaded Kenya, in maize fields in 40 localities across 6 agroecological zones (AEZs) during the maize-growing season, as well as at 3 different plant growth stages (pre-tasseling, reproductive, and senescence stages) in 2 elevations at mid-altitude, where all maize stemborer species used to occur together. Results indicated that the introduction of the FAW significantly correlated with the reduction of the abundance of the resident communities of maize stemborers and parasitoids in maize fields; moreover, the decrease of stemborer density after the arrival of FAW occurred mostly at both reproductive and senescent maize stages. It also suggests a possible displacement of stemborers by FAW elsewhere; for example, to other cereals. However, since this study was conducted only three years after the introduction of the FAW, further studies will need to be conducted to confirm such displacements.

Tracing the distribution of natural enemies of non-native invasive eucalypt insect pests in sub-Saharan Africa

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Mesfin Wondafrash ◽  
Bernard Slippers ◽  
Birhane A Asfaw ◽  
Idea A Makowe ◽  
Herbert Jenya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Enemies ◽  
Insect Pests ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Native Invasive

scholarly journals Analysis of strain distribution, migratory potential, and invasion history of fall armyworm populations in northern Sub-Saharan Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodney N. Nagoshi ◽  
Georg Goergen ◽  
Kodjo Agbeko Tounou ◽  
Komi Agboka ◽  
Djima Koffi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Strain Distribution ◽  
Fall Armyworm ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Invasion History ◽  
History Of ◽  
Sub Saharan

scholarly journals Managing a Transboundary Pest: The Fall Armyworm on Maize in Africa

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Hilary Otim ◽  
Komi Kouma Mokpokpo Fiaboe ◽  
Juliet Akello ◽  
Barnabas Mudde ◽  
Allan Tekkara Obonyom ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Host Range ◽  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Fall Armyworm ◽  
Reproductive Rate ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Migration Ability ◽  
Rapid Spread ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Lepidoptera Noctuidae ◽  
High Migration

The fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda J.E Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) invaded Africa in 2016, and has since spread to all countries in sub-Saharan Africa, causing devastating effects on mainly maize and sorghum. The rapid spread of this pest is aided by its high reproductive rate, high migration ability, wide host range and adaptability to different environments, among others. Since its introduction, many governments purchased and distributed pesticides for emergency control, with minimal regard to their efficacy. In this chapter, we review efforts towards managing this pest, highlight key challenges, and provide our thoughts on considerations for sustainable management of the pest.

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