Natural Enemies of the Fall Armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Ghana

The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is an invasive insect pest attacking maize in Ghana and sub-Saharan Africa countries. Biological control will need to be an important management strategy, and a first step was to identify potential natural enemies. Sampl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Florida entomologist 2020-03, Vol.103 (1), p.85-90
Main Authors: Koffi, Djima, Kyerematen, Rosina, Eziah, Vincent Y., Agboka, Komi, Adom, Medetissi, Goergen, Georg, Meagher, Robert L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anatrichus
Ants
Biological control
Biological pest control
Bracon
Braconidae
Chloropidae
Coccygidium
Containers
control biológico
Corn
Cotesia bifoveolatus
Creeks & streams
Diptera
Dispersion
Farms
Formicidae
Herbivores
Heteroptera
Hymenoptera
Insect pests
Insecticides
Insects
Invasive insects
Invasive species
Larvae
Lepidoptera
Natural enemies
Noctuidae
Organic farming
Parasitism
Parasitoids
Pheidole megacephala
Predators
Reduviidae
Relative abundance
RESEARCH PAPERS
Sorghum
Spodoptera frugiperda
Strategic planning (Business)
Tachinidae
Wasps
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Summary:The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is an invasive insect pest attacking maize in Ghana and sub-Saharan Africa countries. Biological control will need to be an important management strategy, and a first step was to identify potential natural enemies. Sampling was conducted in different localities of the 10 regions of Ghana from May to Nov 2017. A total of 1,062 larvae were collected from 106 maize farms, and the presence of natural enemies was recorded in 18 (17.0%) farms. Among natural enemies recorded, 7 species were parasitoids: Chelonus bifoveolatus Szpligeti, Coccygidium luteum (Brull), Cotesia icipe Fernandez, Meteoridea testacea (Granger), and Bracon sp. (all Hymenoptera: Braconidae), Anatrichus erinaceus Loew (Diptera: Chloropidae), and an undetermined tachinid fly (Diptera: Tachinidae). The parasitism rate was 3.58%. Three predator species were collected: Pheidole megacephala (F.) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Haematochares obscuripennis Stål, and Peprius nodulipes (Signoret) (both Heteroptera: Reduviidae). The 2 most abundant parasitoids were C. bifoveolatus and C. luteum with a relative abundance of 29.0% and 23.7%, respectively, and a parasitism rate of 1.04% and 0.85%, respectively. However, C. bifoveolatus was the most dispersed parasitoid, found in 6.6% of the inspected sites within all the agroecological zones of Ghana. This species is a good candidate as a biological control agent for fall armyworm in Africa. The predator that was most abundant (46.0%) and dispersed (3.8% of the farms) was P. megacephala.
ISSN:0015-4040
1938-5102
DOI:10.1653/024.103.0414