The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), has now become a pest of global concern. Originally known to be endemic to the Western Hemisphere, its first detection in Africa was followed by spectacular outbreaks and spread to almost all sub-Saharan countries. The rapid incursion of S. frugiperda on maize (Zea mays L.; Poaceae) fields in Africa highlighted a crucial need for a comprehensive assessment of integrated pest management strategies in most smallholder farms. However, these strategies cannot successfully function without efficient monitoring and surveillance efforts. These trapping studies were designed to provide an indication as to whether pheromone trap-lure combinations and simple changes in landscape and agricultural practices might mitigate fall armyworm infestations. Our data show that the commercially available Unitrap was the most effective design for fall armyworm captures among the traps tested. The inexpensive home-made 2 L jar trap was capable of consistently collecting fall armyworm during the first season of relatively moderate fall armyworm density. However, the number of fall armyworm captured by home-made trap were several fold lower than by the Unitrap under all conditions, and almost no fall armyworm was captured during the second season by home-made 2 L jar when fall armyworm density was low. Substantial differences were observed among the pheromone blends with respect to numbers of fall armyworm and non-targets captured. The 4-component blend attracted the most fall armyworm under all conditions. The 2-component blend was the most selective, with no non-target species found during the second season experiments.

The efficient control of fall armyworm (FAW) Spodoptera frugiperda depends on timely and reliable detection of its egg masses and early larval stages. A range of tools exist for field scouting of FAW among which the newly developed Farmer Interface App (FIA). The current experiments were conducted under the hypothesis that scouting pattern relevance determine the significance of FAW and parasitoids oviposition data collected. Seven scouting patterns were compared during intensive sampling of FAW and two parasitoid species in maize plots. The FIA -being the simplest model among them, and the one which can be easily implemented by low-literate farmers -gave precision levels statistically comparable to those of more complex models. The pest oviposition data, the egg parasitoid Telenomus remus and the egg-larval parasitoid Chelonus sp. were modelled in this study.

The efficacy of field application of two isolates of Metarhizium anisopliae (MaD and ICIPE-69) and two isolates of Beauveria bassiana (Bb337, Bb338) was compared to that of synthetic insecticide, K-Optimal (Lambda-Cyhalothrin and Acetamiprid), for the control of major pests infesting watermelon (Citrullus lanatus), Zeugodacus cucurbitae and Dacus vertebratus. Both biopesticides and chemicals were applied twice a week from 3 weeks after sowing to 2 weeks before harvest. Experiments were conducted during the dry and rainy seasons at the garden of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Benin Republic. Significant damage was caused to watermelon, primarily in young and immature stages. During the dry season, the highest infestation rate (63.62 pupae/kg) was recorded in the control, with the lowest on plots treated with MaD (11.88 pupae/kg). However, infestation rate was not significantly different among treatments. The tendency of infestation load (number of pupae per kilogram of fruit) significantly varied during the rainy season. Thus, plots treated with ICIPE-69 had the highest number of pupae per kilogram (120.20 pupae/kg), and the lowest was on plots treated with Bb337 (44.48 pupae/kg). Marketable yields were 148.75 t/ha (MaD), 145.83 t/ha (K-optimal), 136.67 t/ha (Bb337), and 119.17 t/ha (Bb338). Beauveria bassiana (Bb337) and M. anisopliae (ICIPE-69) applied at 0.012 × 10 8 CFU/mL have a great potential to be used against both Z. cucurbitae and D. vertebratus infesting watermelon and have a little effect on nontarget organisms such as spiders, lady beetles, and ants.