Spodoptera frugiperda ( Smith, 1797 )

Mbata, Keith J. & Prins, Jurate De, 2023, Annotated checklist of moths of Zambia (Insecta: Lepidoptera), Zootaxa 5354 (1), pp. 1-503 : 426-427

Spodoptera frugiperda ( Smith, 1797) *

COMMON NAME (S): Preferred Common Name is Fall Armyworm (FAW). Other common names include Alfalfa worm, Buckworm, Budworm, Corn budworm, Corn leafworm, Cotton leaf worm, Daggy’s corn worm, Grass caterpillar, Grass worm, Maize budworm, Overflow worm, Rice caterpillar, Southern armyworm, Southern grassworm, Wheat cutworm or Whorlworm.

SYNONYM(S): Laphygma macra Guenée, 1852a ; Laphygma inepta Walker, 1856c ; Prodenia plagiata Walker, 1856c ; Prodenia signifera Walker, 1856c ; Prodenia autumnalis Riley, 1871 ; Laphygma fulvosa Riley, 1876 ; Laphygma obscura Riley, 1876 .

IUCN STATUS: Not Evaluated (NE)

DISTRIBUTION: The taxon is a native of North, Central and South America. It is also found in Asia though introduced recently in some Asian Countries ( Thailand [2018], Nepal and Pakistan [2019]). In Africa this is an invasive species which was introduced and reported for the first time in 2016 in Benin, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe and Togo. Then in 2017,

it got introduced in the following African countries; Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cabo

Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Ethiopia,

Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia , Niger, Rwanda, Senegal,

Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Further, the taxon was introduced into Mayotte and the Réunion in 2018. The pest is presently absent in Europe up to now due to strict quarantine laws and practices. LOCALITY IN ZAMBIA: The presence of the taxon was reported in all 10 provinces of Zambia in 2018 **. LARVAL HOSTPLANT(S): A polyphagous taxon and a very serious pest of maize in Africa . Larvae defoliate maize. They feed on leaves and stems and reproductive parts of maize and of more than 70 other plant species including sorghum, sugarcane, millet, rice, groundnut, cotton, wheat and vegetables. In maize the FAW attacks the whorl and persist to the heart of the plant feeding on it and excreting frass (sawdust) yellowish waste on the leaves. It further attacks the flowers and the cob husks. Worldwide, the FAW feeds on ore that 350

plant species. Being an exotic pest in Africa , the FAW has no natural enemies to control it in the field and hence it poses a great threat to food security and livelihoods of millions of African families in African countries, particularly those where maize is the main stapple food for the people ( Kabwe et al. 2018;

Mulenga 2018). It was reported that in 2018, the Fall armyworm infested more than 55 000 hectares crops in Zambia in almost all of the country’s 10 provinces, with Lusaka, Luapula and Eastern Provinces hit hardest ( Mulenga 2018). In 2017, more than 172 000 ha of maize over the 10 provinces were ravaged by armyworm. The cost of bringing the situation under control runs into millions of Kwachas (Zambian currency). SOURCES: Cabi.org. 2019; De Prins & De Prins 2022; Hill 1987; Kabwe et al. 2018; Mulenga 2018.