Evaluation of Commercial Sex Pheromone Lures for Management of Fall Armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith)

Author: K.N. Sharath, Sharanabasappa S. Deshmukh, Bathini Nagendra Babu, C.M. Kalleshwaraswamy, B.K. Shivanna and G.N. Thippeshappa

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Abstract

The utilization of female sex pheromones for management of insect pests through mass trapping of males can be an important tool for ecofriendly pest management. Hence, the present investigation was undertaken to evaluate the commercial sex pheromone lures for management of fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda through mass trapping under field condition in maize ecosystem. The lures evaluation was done using Randomized Block Design (RBD) with seven treatments including control and were replicated four times. The results showed a significant difference in male moth trap catches among different sex pheromone lures across different weeks of the crop growth. Further, the interaction between the sex pheromone lures and weeks also exhibited a significant difference in the attraction of male moths of S. frugiperda. The highest trap catches were recorded during the July third week which capturing 16.32 moths/trap/week and the lowest number of moths were captured during third week of September (0.18 moths/trap/week).

Keywords

Fall armyworm, sex pheromone, lure evaluation, management, moths, trap catches

Conclusion

The current investigation exhibited a remarkable variation in performance of commercial sex pheromone lures of fall armyworm with respect to attraction of male moths under field conditions. The attraction of male moths by different lures varied significantly among the treatments and during different weeks of the crop growth. These variations among treatments could be due to differences in blend ratio of different lures orimpact of extraneous factors such as temperature, humidity and rainfall on the lure and also due to evaporation rate of the compound. The variation across the weeks could be due to differences in the infestation in the field and also adult moth population. Hence the current study serves as an important tool for monitoring fall armyworm and also helps in deciding the frequency of insecticide application for further studies.

References

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How to cite this article

K.N. Sharath, Sharanabasappa S. Deshmukh, Bathini Nagendra Babu, C.M. Kalleshwaraswamy, B.K. Shivanna and G.N. Thippeshappa (2022). Evaluation of Commercial Sex Pheromone Lures for Management of Fall Armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith). Biological Forum – An International Journal, 14(4): 833-837.