Preliminary inventory of native natural enemies of the new pest; Fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda)

Abstract

Fall Armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda), which began to spread in Bhutan in recent years, is a highly destructive pest of maize that is native to the Americas. Due to the limited information available for developing sustainable management options for the new pest, current management practices are largely chemical-dependent. For use as a biological control option, we present a preliminary list of native natural enemies associated with Fall Armyworm that is collected from infested maize fields in west-central Bhutan. Visual observation, sweep net collection, and rearing of different Fall Armyworm stages were used for detection of the natural enemies. We identified 48 natural enemy species associ- ated with the Fall Armyworm infested maize fields. Parasitism was noted for Chelonus formosanus, Trichogramma sp., Winthemia trinitatis, Linnaemya sp. and Campoletis sonorensis while predation was observed by Polistes olivaceus, Stenodynerus smilibaronii, Tetraponera allaborans, Crematogaster rogennhoferi and Dolichoderus thoracicus on the Fall Armyworm.