Bioecology of Spodoptera frugiperda (Smith, 1757) in different cover crops.

The objective of this work was to evaluate the biological variables of Spodoptera frugiperda on species of cover crops. The experiments were conducted in laboratory and greenhouse using the following species: sunflower (Helianthus annuus), sun hemp (Crotalaria juncea), brachiaria (Urochloa decumbens e Urochloa ruziziensis), millet (Pennisetum americanum), black oat (Avena stringosa), white lupin (Lupinus albus), forage turnip (Rafanus sativus) and maize (Zea mays). In laboratory the S. frugiperda larval survival varied from 57%, on L. albus, to 93% on H. annuus and the survival of the pre-imaginal phase varied from 45% on U. decumbens to 81.6% on Z. mays. On C. juncea the larval biomass was lower and the development period of the young and larval stage was higher. The adaptation index was less on C. juncea in greenhouse and laboratory. In greenhouse the larval survival at 14 days was similar for all plants and at 21 days was the lowest on C. juncea. There was less accumulation of biomass at 14 days on C. juncea and at 21 days on C. juncea and A. stringosa. Regarding damage, C. juncea presented less susceptibility to Spodoptera frugiperda attack, which together with the other evaluated parameters, indicated this plant as the most appropriate for soil cover before cultivation of maize.

Life-history traits of Spodoptera frugiperda populations exposed to low-dose Bt maize.

Exposure to Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxins in low- and moderate-dose transgenic crops may induce sublethal effects and increase the rate of Bt resistance evolution, potentially compromising control efficacy against target pests. We tested this hypothesis using the fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda, a major polyphagous lepidopteran pest relatively tolerant to Bt notorious for evolving field-relevant resistance to single-gene Bt maize. Late-instar larvae were collected from Bt Cry1Ab and non-Bt maize fields in five locations in Brazil, and their offspring was compared for survival, development, and population growth in rearing environment without and with Cry1Ab throughout larval development. Larval survival on Cry1Ab maize leaves varied from 20 to 80% among the populations. Larvae reared on Cry1Ab maize had seven-day delay in development time in relation to control larvae, and such delay was shorter in offspring of armyworms from Cry1Ab maize. Population growth rates were 50?70% lower for insects continuously exposed to Cry1Ab maize relative to controls, showing the population-level effect of Cry1Ab, which varied among the populations and prior exposure to Cry1Ab maize in the field. In three out of five populations, armyworms derived from Bt maize reared on Cry1Ab maize showed higher larval weight, faster larval development and better reproductive performance than the armyworms derived from non-Bt maize, and one of these populations showed better performance on both Cry1Ab and control diets, indicating no fitness cost of the resistance trait. Altogether, these results indicate that offspring of armyworms that developed on field-grown, single-gene Bt Cry1Ab maize had reduced performance on Cry1Ab maize foliage in two populations studied, but in other three populations, these offspring had better overall performance on the Bt maize foliage than that of the armyworms from non-Bt maize fields, possibly because of Cry1Ab resistance alleles in these populations. Implications of these findings for resistance management of S. frugiperda in Bt crops are discussed.