Recent pest invasion in India: Fall army worm (Spodoptera frugiperda)- A global threat to food security

1. Post- Graduate student M.Sc. (Ag.) Entomology
Title
“Recent pest invasion in India – Spodoptera frugiperda – A
global threat to food security ”
Presented by -
Kumari Pragya
Roll no:170119007
DEPARTMENT OF ENTOMOLOGY
JAWAHARLAL NEHRU KRISHI VISHWA VIDYALAYA
JABALPUR, (M.P.)

3. What does the word invasion or invasive pest
species means?
 Pests which are not native in areas where they cause problems are
considered to be an invasive pest species because they invade and
establish populations in new areas and resulting uncontrolled
population growth and spread causes economic and environmental
problems.
 Invasive species are also known as alien species, exotic pests, bio-
pollution, non indigenous species or invasive alien species.
 This process of invading and establishment of pest population in
non native areas is known as invasion.

4. Economic losses caused by invasive species
worldwide-
Invasive species cost the global economy $1.4tn every year yet
infestation generally go undetected or untreated in their initial
stages, which prolongs their spread and makes control more
difficult.
(Race to contain destructive march of armyworm as pest
spreads to India – thegaurdian.com)

5. • This year, during pre monsoon period, a very important
polyphagous American pest knocked the door of India, via
Africa and took out all attention of agricultural scientists and
farmers.
Invasion in India : Worsening the food security

6. • NBAIR identified this pest as Fall Armyworm Spodoptera
frugiperda on the basis of DNA barcoding and morphological
characters, after being first reported from maize fields at
College of Agriculture (UAHS), Shivamogga, Karnataka on
18th may 2018.
• On 30th July 2018, NBAIR released a pest alert after surveying
the Chikkaballapur district of Karnataka and finding 70% pest
incidence in the field, which depicts the extent of invasion.

7. • Common name – Fall armyworm
• Scientific name – Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith)
• Family – Noctuidae, Order – Lepidoptera
• Host plants –
mainly gnaws on Maize but eats on additional 186 plant
species like Rice, Sorghum, Sugarcane and many
vegetables.
• Native to –
Tropical and subtropical regions of America
(www.iita.org)
A general introduction to the pest -

8. Distribution –
• Till 2015, the Fall Armyworm remained confined to America.
• In 2016 the foothold of this pest spread to various African
countries.
• It spread to Southern Africa till 2017. Now, approximately 44
countries of tropical Africa covering an area of 22 million km2,
exacerbating the food insecurity of about 208 million maize
consumers and affecting livelihoods of millions of maize
producers.
Now, after Africa Fall Army Worm is expanding its stretch in
India after being first reported from Karnataka in May 2018.

9. https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/29810#toDistributionMaps

10. How it reached to India -
• According to Dr. Gopi Ramasamy, Cabi’s country director for
India, FAW is likely to reach in India from Africa through -
– Human-aided transport
– Natural migration (it’s able to fly hundreds of kilometres in
one night on prevailing winds.)

11. Stretches in India -
• The pest is expanding its horizon at a very rapid pace and till
now had been reported from whole Karnataka, Tamil Nadu,
Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal.
• FAW has been also found infesting on Sugarcane crop in
Ghogaon village (Sangali district, Maharastra), putting animal
feed, poultry and sugar industries at stake.

13. Attributes that make FAW a highly performing
migrant and potentially dangerous invasive species-
1. Short developmental cycle
2. High reproduction rate with about 1000 -2000 eggs per
female
3. Adult moths shows a remarkable long distance flight ability
of about 100 km/night
(iita.org)

14. Why the outbreak in Indian subconinent is
worrysome –
• Threat for India-
Occurence of fall army worm with high incidence in
South Indian state of Karnataka is likely to be soon
followed by spread to other states that are major regions for
hybrid maize seed production in India.
• Threat for other countries –
With its foothold in India, FAW has an unrestricted access
to a whole new region of the globe. Further expansion of
FAW to countries adjacent to India such as Bangladesh,
Nepal, Pakistan and beyond will put maize production of
whole Asian continent seriously at risk with dire
economic consequences.
(iita.org)

15. Yield losses-
• Center for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI)
mentioned in its report that, FAW can incurr a yield loss of
about 21 – 53% equivalent to 8.3 – 20.6 million tonn of maize
per year consisting about US $2.5 and 6.2 billion with
additional $13 billion worth crop at risk.

16. • In India production of more than 20 Mt of maize per year
has been at risk.
• In 2017-18, India sighted a production of 26.88 million tonn
from acreage 74.34 lakh ha.
(iita.org)

17. Morphological details

18. Eggs
• Eggs are usually laid in masses of approximately 150-200 eggs
which are laid in two to four layers deep on the surface of the
leaf. Up to 1000 eggs may be laid by each female.

19. Larvae
Various instars of Spodoptera frugiperda

20. • Large larvae are characterized by an inverted Y-shape in
yellow on the head, black dorsal pinaculae with long primary
setae (two each side of each segment within the pale dorsal
zone) and four black spots arranged in a square on the last
abdominal segment.

21. Pupa
Pupae are shorter than mature larvae (1.3-1.5 cm in males
and 1.6-1.7 cm in females), and are shiny brown.

22. Adults
• Adult Male
Male body length is 1.6 cm and wingspan 3.7 cm.
The forewing is mottled (light brown, grey, straw) with a
discal cell containing straw colour on three quarters of
the area and dark brown on one quarter of the area.
• Adult Female
Female body length is 1.7 cm and wingspan 3.8 cm.
The forewing is mottled (dark brown, grey).
Hindwings are straw colour with a dark brown margin.

23. Male adult - a) resting stage b)wings expanded
Female adult - a) resting stage b)wings expanded

24. Life Cycle of FAW

26. Nature of Damage
• The young larvae feed deep in the whorl;
• The first two instars feed gregariously on the underside of the
young leaves causing a characteristic skeletonizing or
'windowing' effect, and the growing point can be killed.

27. Damage symptoms on Reproductive stage –

28. How to differentiate between damage by stem
borer and fall army worm?
Stem borer damage
• Big holes as present in FAW
are not present
• Dead heart formation with a
stinky smell.
• Old larvae are usually found
on maize stem rather than
whorl, leaving hole in stem
and visible frass.
FAW damage
• FAW’s larvae usually leaves
big holes
• No stinky smell
• Old Larval stages remains in
whorl itself.

29. Management measures that
had already been utilized in
Africa and America
successfully
(IPM approach according to FAO report)

30. Pest monitoring and surveillance
Two approaches to monitoring are used:
• Trapping adults: Pheromone traps attract the male moths with
a synthetic sex pheromone
• Scouting: Plants are inspected in detail, and different aspects
of the damage and/or the presence or number of eggs and
different sizes of larvae recorded.

31. Economic threshold level
Thresholds levels for Fall Armyworm include:
• Pheromone trap catches of 10 to 20 per night (70 to 100 per
week)
• Egg masses present on ≥ 5% of the plants or ≥25% of the
plants show damage symptoms and live larvae are still present
• ≥5% of seedlings are cut or ≥20% of whorls of small plants
(first 30 days) are infested.

32. Prevention
• Planting dates: avoid late planting, and avoid staggered
planting, as this would continue to provide the favoured food
of FAW locally (i.e. young maize plants).
• Good soil health and adequate moisture are critical: they are
essential to grow healthy plants, which can better withstand
pest infestation and damage. Also, unbalanced inorganic
fertilization of maize (especially excessive nitrogen use) can
increase oviposition by female FAW

33. Push-pull technology
Push-pull is a habitat management strategy. The
technology entails using a repellent intercrop
(Desmodium as a “push”) and an attractive trap plant
(Napier/Brachiaria grass as a “pull”).

34. The Napier grass planted around the maize farm:
Attracts stem borers and FAW to lay eggs on it;
but it does not allow larvae to develop on it due to poor
nutrition; so very few larvae survive.

35. • At the same time, Desmodium, planted as an intercrop:
– emits volatiles that repels stem borers or FAW
– covers the ground surface between maize, thus smothering
weeds
– enriches the soil with nitrogen, preserves soil moisture and
protects the soil from erosion.

36. Mechanical control and local controls
• Farmers should visit fields twice a week during vegetative
stage, especially in periods of heavy oviposition by FAW, and
once a week or every 15 days in later stages.
• Crush egg masses and young larvae
• Using ash, sand, sawdust or dirt into whorls to control FAW
larvae. Ash, sand and sawdust may desiccate young larvae.
Dirt may contain entomopathogenic nematodes,
Nucleopolyhedrosis Virus (NPV), or bacteria (such as Bacillus
sp.) that can kill FAW larvae.

38. • Using lime, salt, oil and soaps as control tactics. Lime and ash
are very alkaline.
• Use local botanicals (neem, hot pepper, local plants)
• Effectively pouring water in the maize whorl to drown the
larvae.
• Use sugary sprays, oil or lard, ‘fish soup’ or other material to
attract ants and wasps to the maize plants. The predatory ants
are attracted to the lard, oil, bits of fish parts, or sugar; once on
the maize plants, they also find and eat FAW larvae.

39. Biological control of the Fall Armyworm
Most common parasitoids known to be well adapted to the FAW –
• Telenomus remus Nixon (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) -
• Over their lifetime females are able to parasitize some 120-130
FAW eggs.
• Parasitism rate – 80%

40. • Trichogramma spp. (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) -
Females can parasitize up to 120 moth eggs.
• Chelonus insularis Cresson (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) - each
female can parasitize about 600 FAW eggs

42. Predators of the FAW
• Earwigs (Dermaptera: Forficulidae, Carcinophoridae)
– Two species are currently recognized to play a significant
role as FAW egg predator in maize crops: Doru luteipes
(Scudder) and Euborellia annulipes (Lucas).

43. • Ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae)
– Many carabid beetle species occurring in maize cropping
are known for their predatory habits both as larvae or
adults. Calosoma granulatum Perty has been observed to
feed on young FAW caterpillars.

44. • Ladybird beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)
• Assassin and flower bugs (Hemiptera: Reduviidae,
Pentatomidae, Geocoridae, Nabidae, Anthocoridae)
• Eusocial, solitary and other predatory wasps (Hymenoptera:
Vespoidea)
• Spiders (Arachnida: Araneae)
• Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

45. Entomopathogens
The Fall Armyworm is naturally affected by several different types of
pathogens:
• Viruses, in particular Nuclear Polyhedrosis Virus (NPVs) such as the
Spodoptera frugiperda Multicapsid Nucleopolyhedrovirus
(SfMNPV)
• Fungi, in particular
– Metarhizium anisopliae
– Nomuraea rileyi
– Beauveria bassiana
• Bacteria, such as the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)

46. Fungus infected larvae of FAW
Virus infected larvae of the Fall Armyworm

47. Chemical control
FAO recommends following mentioned insecticides to be used
against FAW -
• Methomyl
• Cyfluthrin
• Methyl parathion

48. Steps taken in India to curb the manance -
• The agriculture department of Karnataka has already launched
an awareness programme, while its counterpart in Maharashtra
plans to include fall armyworm in Cropsap, the pest and
disease surveillance programme of the state.
• Pheromones
Synthetic mimics of the female moth’s sex pheromone
used to mass-trap males or disrupt their mate-finding

49. • Farmers in Karnataka are advised to spray a mixture of
Thiamethoxam and Lambda-cyhalothrin or Emamectin
benzoate to manage the spread of these worms.
• These pesticides are being made available to farmers at
subsidised rates

50. Some Cultural pest management measures suggested to
the farmers by the Agriculture Department, Karnataka-
• Plant early
• Use early maturing varieties
• Intercrop maize with beans
• Remove weeds
• Remove and destroy all crop residues
• Rotate maize with a non-host
• Ploughing/cultivating to expose larvae and pupae
• Handpicking egg masses and larvae. Applying sand (mixed
with lime or ash), sawdust or soil in the whorl

51. Emerging challenges in controlling FAW -
• Development of resistance to GM crops
• Resistance development to pesticides
• Mass scale production and breeding of predators like wasps
• Development of “Germ Warfare”

52. Some Pro’s of Spodoptera frugiperda larvae
• FFS farmers for instance in Benin,
reported picking larvae to feed them
to chicks for poultry production.
• Entomophagy- FAW are also edible
for human consumption. In countries
where insects are consumed, they can
be a good complementary source of
protein for local population.

53. Bibliography
• Presence of Fall Armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J E
Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), an Invasive Pest on Maize in
University jurisdiction. (University of Agricultural and
Horticultural Sciences, Shivamogga, Karnataka, India, Dated:
20/07/18)
• Pest alert issued by ICAR – NBAIR team dated 30th July 2018.
• Fall armyworm has reached the Indian subcontinent!
(iita.org/news-item/fall-armyworm-has-reached-the-
indian-subcontinent)
• Race to contain destructive march of armyworm as pest
spreads to India
(theguardian.com/globaldevelopment/2018/aug/07/race-to-
contain-destructive-march-of-armyworm-as-pest-spreadsto-
india)

54. • Fall Armyworm spreads to five states in India, By Jayashree
Bhosale, ET Bureau, Oct 09, 2018, 09.01 AM IST
• Fall Armyworm, considered threat for global food security
spreads from maize to sugarcane in India, By Jayashree
Bhosale , ET Bureau | Oct 09, 2018, 09.44 AM IST
• Agronomists strive to contain a brand new American pest, By
Jayashree Bhosale, ET Bureau | Updated: Oct 13, 2018, 01.19
PM IST
• Fall Armyworm in maize spreads to TN; Karnataka takes steps
to curb menace - The Hindu BusinessLine Dated Oct 16, 2018.
• Fall Armyworm Status: Impacts and control options in Africa:
Preliminary Evidence Note (April 2017), By-P. Abrahams, T.
Beale, M. Cock, N. Corniani, R.Day*, J.Godwin, S. Murphy,
G. Richards & J. Vos
• www.cabi.org , Spodoptera frugiperda.

55. THANK YOU