Telenomus remus, a Candidate Parasitoid for the Biological Control of Spodoptera frugiperda in Africa, is already Present on the Continent

Abstract

The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, a moth originating from tropical and subtropical America, has recently become a serious pest of cereals in sub-Saharan Africa. Biological control offers an economically and environmentally safer alternative to synthetic insecticides that are being used for the management of this pest. Consequently, various biological control options are being considered, including the introduction of Telenomus remus, the main egg parasitoid of S. frugiperda in the Americas, where it is already used in augmentative biological control programmes. During surveys in South, West, and East Africa, parasitized egg masses of S. frugiperda were collected, and the emerged parasitoids were identified through morphological observations and molecular analyses as T. remus. The presence of T. remus in Africa in at least five countries provides a great opportunity to develop augmentative biological control methods and register the parasitoid against S. frugiperda. Surveys should be carried out throughout Africa to assess the present distribution of T. remus on the continent, and the parasitoid could be re-distributed in the regions where it is absent, following national and international regulations. Classical biological control should focus on the importation of larval parasitoids from the Americas.

Parasitoid Complex of Fall Armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, in Ghana and Benin

“…Some authors studied the parasitoid complex of the pest in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania [18,19] and Senegal [20]. In addition, the platygasterid egg parasitoid Telenomus remus Dixon was recorded in Côte d'Ivoire, Benin and Niger [21] and the biology of the braconid larval parasitoid (Coccygidium luteum Brullé) has recently been studied in Ghana [22]. There are many known natural enemies of S. frugiperda from North, Central and South America that play an important role in the natural suppression of this pest in its area of origin (e.g., [23][24][25][26][27][28]) and could potentially be considered for introduction into Africa.…”

Chromosome level draft genomes of the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), an alien invasive pest in China

“…Although some research reported the resistance of FAW to Bt maize 29,30 , multiple genes or new gene with more or new Bt toxin expressed are still thought to have a good performance for resisting the FAW 29,30 . Biological control, including the, introduction of natural enemies and using companion cropping system 19,21,25,31,32 , is also an effective way to resist the FAW.…”

First report of Telenomus remus parasitizing Spodoptera frugiperda and its natural parasitism in South China

“…Phylogenetic analysis based on COI sequences generated from this study and those used by Kenis et al (2019) showed that the six specimens collected from the three sites of South China were grouped well within the clade of T. remus specimens collected from Asia, Africa, and the Americas (Figure 2). Twenty-eight, five, and three egg masses of S. frugiperda were collected from Huadu, Panyu, and Gaoming, respectively (Table 1).…”

“…The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), which originating from the tropical and sub-tropical of North, Central, and South America, has become a invasive pest of cereals in Africa, India, Myanmar, Thailand, etc, where it has caused serious damage (Kenis et al, 2019). This species was first detected in the southeast province of China, Yunnan, in January, 2019, has quickly spread from the south to the north and has now found in 18 provinces (Jiang et al, 2019;Cui et al, 2019).…”

“…Among over 150 parasitoid species that attack S. frugiperda, the egg parasitoid species Telenomus remus Nixon (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) seems to be a 3 promising biological control candidate (Kenis et al, 2019). T. remus was reported to attack eggs of various Spodoptera species in China (Chou, 1987;Tang et al, 2010).…”