Fall armyworm is a major polyphagous insect pest, causing a significant damage on different agricultural crops. Developing an alternative non-chemical tool to suppress the pest infestation is essentially needed. Therefore, a study was conducted during the year 2021-2022 to evaluate the parasitisation of different egg parasitoids on egg mass of fall armyworm, at Centre for Biocontrol Laboratory, NIPHM, Hyderabad. During this study the effect of different egg parasitoids namely Telenomus remus (Nixon), Trichogramma chilonis (Ishii), Trichogramma pretiosum (Riley) and Trichogramma embryophagum (Hartig) were tested on FAW egg mass. The experiment revealed that the parasitisation rate was significantly higher in T. remus (88.05%) followed by T. chilonis (53.69%), T. pretiosum (49.76%) and T. embryophagum (28.94%). It was noticed that T. remus was potential to parasitize more than one-layer of eggs in FAW egg mass uniformly. Whereas, Trichogramma sp. are able to parasitize eggs in the outer most layer of egg mass.

Fall armyworm, Parasitoids, T. remus and Trichogramma sp

Biological control of invasive fall armyworm is important in Integrated Pest Management. It was noticed that T. remus was the potent biocontrol agent to be used as biocontrol agent for S. frugiperda followed by T. chilonis, T. pretiosum and T. embryophagum. T. remus was potential to parasitize more than one-layer of eggs in FAW egg mass uniformly. Whereas, Trichogramma sp. are able to parasitize eggs in the outer most layer of egg mass. Our results are encouraging, the T. remus and Trichogramma spp. are viable biocontrol agents for S. frugiperda. Still, other aspects need to be further studied, such as other factors that influence the success of parasitoids.

B. Shailaja, U. Sai Prasoona, E. Sreelatha and S. Abhilash (2023). Study on Parasitisation of Different Egg Parasitoids on Egg Mass of Fall Armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) under Laboratory Condition. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 15(11): 59-61.