Fall Armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda)

The fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), originated from America but is reported recently from Africa and the Asia-Pacific. FAW has caused huge international concern since its outbreak in Africa since 2016 and in Asia since mid-2018. The chapter mainly reviews its global distribution, life cycle, identification characters, strains, host plants, nature of damage, economic damage, and integrated pest management strategies available. The pest completes its life cycle on maize in 30 days (in warm summer months); in cooler temperatures, it may extend up to 60–90 days. For effective management of fall armyworm, different tools, viz., cultural control, agronomic management, breeding for resistance, natural enemies, and eco-friendly insecticides, should be used in an integrated approach. As the insect is recently introduced to Africa and the Asia-Pacific, possible management strategies and future cases of action are discussed

Not Available

Not AvailableMelon fly,Zeugodacuscucurbitae (Diptera: Tephritidae) (Coquillett) is the major pest of cucumber, Cucumissativus. We investigated the attractiveness of roosting plants with food bait spray to manage melon fly in cucumber under open field conditions. Cucumber was planted over two successive Kharif seasons together with maize (Zea mays), castor bean (Ricinus communis), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), and Napier grass (Hybrid Co-3) as border plants. Border plants were sprayed weekly with an azadirachtin based food bait. The study revealed that castor bean was the most attractive roosting plant to melon fly followed by maize, sorghum and Napier grass. The adult melon flies preferred to roost on the lower sides of the maize, sorghum and Napier grass leaves and on the stems of castor bean. There were significant differences in the per cent fruit infestation of cucumber in all roosting host treatments except Napier grass compared to the control, with the lowest fruit infestation of 11.75 per cent recorded in castor bean treatment. The highest cucumber yield 17.90 t/ha and the highest number of cucumber harvests 13.75 per season were observed in the castor bean treatment.Establishment of preferred roosting hosts as crop borders may help to improve the efficiency of bait application thereby suppressing the melon fly population.Not Availabl

Not Available

Not AvailableThe occurrence of Jewel beetle Belionota prasina (Thunberg, 1789) (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) infestation on cashew from Goa, India was reported in this communication. Most of the infested trees were previously attacked by stem borers. Semi-circular D-shaped exit bore holes measuring 7–10 mm in length and 4–7 mm in width were found along the main trunk and branches. Adult beetles were dark greenish blue in colour and measured about 21–28 mm in length. Grubs were fleshy, whitish yellow in colour and measured 9–50 mm in length. Various stages of grub were observed on the infested trees. Prepupa and pupa were yellowish white in colour and measures 26–32 mm and 20–23 mm in length, respectively. Maximum of 132 grubs, 8 pre-pupae, 22 pupae and 61 adults were collected from a single affected tree. An average of 55.8 grubs were found to be feeding on a single tree and could successfully complete the life cycle on a fresh cashew log. Thus, cashew could be a new host plant for grubs of this buprestid, Belionota prasina.Not Availabl

Not Available

Not AvailableField experiments were conducted to assess the diversity, abundance and role of aphidophagous predators in cashew during 2015 and 2016 at Goa. The aphid Aphis odinae (=Toxoptera odinae) (Van der Goot) is an occasional sporadic insect pest of cashew. The aphid was preyed upon by six species of predators, including three species of coccinellids, viz., Scymnus castaneus Sicard, Cheilomenes sexmaculata (F.) and Pseudaspidimerus flaviceps (Walker) and three species of syrphids, viz., Paragus serratus (F.), Dideopsis aegrota (F.) and Ischidon scutellaris (F.). Among these, S. castaneus (11.05 grubs/nut/leaf) was the most abundant followed by P. serratus (5.02 larvae/nut). Their populations followed an almost similar trend with that of the prey aphid with maximum populations being observed during 6th standard meteorological week. Significant positive correlation was observed between the aphid and the predators except for I. scutellaris. These predators were effective in managing the aphid.ICAR-CCARI Institute projec

Not Available

Not AvailableNot AvailableNot Availabl

Not Available

Not AvailableThe fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is an economically important polyphagous pest native to the Americas. The pest has recently introduced to India and causing severe damage to maize and other crops. The occurrence of fall armyworm on fodder maize (Zea mays L), Guinea grass (Megathyrsus maximus) (Jacq.), para grass (Brachiaria mutica) (Forssk.) and green amaranth (Amaranthus viridis L) is reported first time from Goa, India. The damage incidence of 16 to 52% was recorded on fodder maize. The other host plants viz., Guinea grass, para grass and green amaranth recorded damage incidences of 9.0, 4.0 and 13.0%, respectively. The pest was identified based on morphological characters and molecular techniques. Phylogenetic analysis of COI gene sequence revealed that fall armyworm on fodder maize from Goa is clustering with the fall armyworm isolates from India, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Canada and Brazil. Goa isolate is aligning with the “Rice” strain of fall armyworm and not with “Corn” strain. Studies on the biology of fall armyworm indicated that longer larval and pupal developmental period (18.6 and 10.7 days) was recorded on Guinea grass and green amaranth, respectively. The highest number of eggs was recorded from fall armyworm population reared on fodder maize as compared to those reared on other host plants. Longer life cycle was recorded on Guinea grass and green amaranth. Shortest larval and pupal period and faster life cycle of fall armyworm was recorded on fodder maize compared to other host plants indicating that fodder maize was the most preferred host for S. frugiperda in India.ICAR-CCARI Institute projec