First Record of Barnyard Millet as a Host for Fall Army Worm Spodoptera frugiperda (J E Smith) Roopika M1, Moorthy A V2,*, Srinivasan G1, Shanthi M3 1Department of Agricultural Entomology, Agricultural College and Research Institute (AC & RI), Madurai625104, Tamil Nadu, India 2Department of Entomology, G B Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar263145, Uttarakhand, India 3Director, Centre for Plant Protection Studies, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore641003, Tamil Nadu, India *Email: moorthyagri96@gmail.com (corresponding author): ORCID ID 0000-0001-7657-6899
Online Published on 31 August, 2024. Abstract Damage potential of maize fall army worm (FAW), varies from 9.0 % to 62.5 % on different seasons and in different regions of India. FAW threatens food and nutritional security of millions of farmers in India. Here is the first record of FAW in a new host barnyard millet and a study on its biology. The infestation began from seedling stage and extended till reproductive stage. During seedling stage, the larva caused scrapping of leaf and cut the central shoot, resulted in drying of central shoot, which resembled dead heart symptom. In vegetative stage, it caused scrapping and defoliation of leaves and also caused whorl damage. There were no parallel hole symptoms observed as like maize. The egg duration was 2.8 ± 0.83 days. Larva usually had six instars with life period of 3.2 ± 0.83 Days, 3.0 ± 0.70 Days, 2.4 ± 0.54 Days, 2.6 ± 0.54 Days, 3.4 ± 0.89 Days and 6.0 ± 0.70 Days for I to VI instars respectively. The total larval duration ranged from 17 to 23 days with a mean of 20.6 ± 2.07 days. Pupal and adult duration were 8.8 ± 1.30 and 10.2 ± 2.04 Days respectively. The total life cycle in barnyard millet under laboratory condition was 42.2 ± 4.26 days. Top Keywords First record, Spodoptera frugiperda, Egg, Larva, Pupa, Adult, Barnyard millet, Madurai, Biology, Life stages, Symptom, Invasive pest. Top |