Record of natural enemies of invasive fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in fodder maize ecosystem in Goa

Abstract

Fall Armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith), a recent invasive pest, poses a serious threat to maize production and productivity in India. Very little information is available on FAW indigenous natural enemies in authors are ecosystems. Hence, the present study assessed and documented the native natural enemies of FAW in the fodder maize ecosystem of Goa. Under field conditions, various life stages of FAW were attacked by 22 species of native natural enemies comprising two egg parasitoids, five larval parasitoids, eleven predators, and four entomopathogens. The field egg parasitism of Trichogramma chilonis Ishii and Telenomus remus Nixon was 13.90% and 29.37%, respectively. Among the egg parasitoids, T. remus was the dominant one. With a parasitism rate of 6.58%, Campoletis chlorideae Uchida was the most prevalent larval parasitoid. Eleven different species of predators were found predating on FAW. Among the predators, the rove beetle, Paederus fuscipes Curtis was the most abundant, with 1-2 adults per plant. Four entomopathogens viz., Metarhizium rileyi (Farlow), Bacillus sp., Spodoptera frugiperda nuclear polyhedrosis virus, and entomopathogenic nematode, Hexamermis sp. were found infecting the FAW larvae. The present study reports the indigenous natural enemies associated with FAW in fodder maize. These native natural enemies must be conserved and exploited for the biological control of FAW.