Seasonal Variations of Spodoptera frugiperda Host Plant Diversity and Parasitoid Complex in Southern and Central Benin.

ABSTRACT: Fall armyworm (FAW) Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith, 1797) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) was recorded for the first time in 2016 attacking maize fields in central and west Africa. Soon after, several other regions and countries have reported the pest in almost the entire sub-Saharan Africa. In the present study, we assumed that (i) a variety of alternative plant species host FAW, especially during maize off-season, (ii) a wide range of local parasitoids have adapted to FAW and (iii) parasitoid species composition and abundance vary across seasons. During a two-year survey (from June 2018 to January 2020), parasitoids and alternative host plants were identified from maize and vegetable production sites, along streams and lowlands, on garbage dumps and old maize fields in southern and pa

SUBMITTER: Winsou JK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9224405 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature