The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is native to tropical and subtropical areas of the Americas but has recently invaded and established in several African and Asian countries, including India. It successfully oviposits and feeds on a variety of host plants, but its feeding damage to maize, Zea mays L., is of great concern in its native and expanded ranges. Conventional insecticides are the usual means of managing the pest, despite the adverse impacts of these chemistries on nontarget species, as well as human and environmental health. Botanicals, biological agents, cultural practices, host plant resistance, and genetically modified hosts also have been explored for management, as has the use of reproductive pheromones for management, monitoring, and decision making. We conducted a review of available scientific literature on the use of reproductive pheromones for monitoring, mass trapping, disrupting mating, and decision making in the management of S. frugiperda. Assembling this information in one location will facilitate additional research with pheromone-based management strategies and tactics, especially within expanded ranges of the pest.

The direct effect of Palmer amaranth, Amaranthus palmeri Watson, on cotton growth and development is well documented, but its indirect effect through harboring feeding insects is less understood. Palmer amaranth emerged with cotton and remaining in the field for 30 days increased tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois), populations compared with a weed-free system. Weedy systems noted up to 49% more damaged terminals than weed-free systems, with cotton yield decreasing as damaged terminals increased at one of two locations. Thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) populations were effectively controlled with Aeris^® (Bayer, St. Louis, MO) seed treatment (imidacloprid + thiodicarb at 0.375 mg active ingredient per seed), but there was no correlation between thrips infestations and increasing damaged cotton terminals. However, Aeris seed treatment significantly reduced the occurrence of damaged cotton terminals. In a second experiment, Palmer amaranth infesting an area adjacent to a weed-free cotton field had maximum damaged terminals of 51% on the cotton row proximal to the weedy area, with the distal cotton row (44 m away) having 8% terminal damage. Cotton yield significantly decreased as damaged terminals increased. A final bioassay experiment further evaluated the influence of seed treatment on tarnished plant bug feeding impacting cotton seedlings. With Aeris seed treatment, tarnished plant bug mortality was 97%, compared with 37% for nontreated seed. Results suggest tarnished plant bug infestations increased where Palmer amaranth was present in cotton fields. Additionally, greater Palmer amaranth infestations led to an increase in damaged cotton terminals and lower yields.

Grape phylloxera, Daktulosphaira vitifoliae Fitch (Hemiptera: Phylloxeridae), is an important pest that forms galls on the foliage and roots of Vitis species. The effects of grape phylloxera on grape root have been studied extensively. This study investigated the effects of the foliar form of grape phylloxera, which is a persistent pest of North American native Vitis species and cold-hardy hybrid wine grapes between Vitis vinifera L. and Vitis riparia Michx. For a susceptible variety, ‘Frontenac’, in commercial Minnesota vineyards, there were reductions in cluster weight due to foliar phylloxera infestations in 2017 (one site; P = 0.05) and 2018 (three sites; nonsignificant). Reductions in cluster weight can be economically important to growers. For four grape varieties (susceptible and resistant) evaluated in the greenhouse, there were numerical reductions in photosynthetic rate and localized photosystem II efficiency in 1 of 2 yr. Resistant varieties had less of a reduction on conductance due to grape phylloxera infestation than susceptible varieties in 1 of 2 yr. The degree to which this occurs in resistant varieties may be related to the formation of fewer adaxial stomata; however, this hypothesis requires additional research. These results add important information to better understand how foliar phylloxera injury affects wine grape photosynthesis and yield. The results serve as a foundation for investigating variety-specific responses to foliar phylloxera through the use of advanced phenotyping technologies. This knowledge will lead to a better understanding of the effect of the pest on the diversity of cold-hardy grape varieties grown in the Midwestern United States.

Egg parasitoids are the most used natural enemies in biological control of Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith), a pest of gramineous plants native to the Americas that recently invaded Africa and some countries of Asia. Although Trichogramma pretiosum (Riley) is one of the main species used against this pest, there are other species with equal or greater parasitism potential. The objective of this work was to compare, in laboratory and in field cages, the parasitism of Telenomus remus Nixon, Trichogramma atopovirilia (Oatman and Platner), and T. pretiosum on S. frugiperda eggs. Telenomus remus and T. atopovirilia reached the highest percentages of parasitism in laboratory (>70%) which did not differ statistically from each other. Trichogramma pretiosum had the lowest percentage of parasitism (29%) of the three. In the field cage assays, Te. remus parasitized 30% of the S. frugiperda egg masses, and T. pretiosum parasitized about 7.5% of the egg masses. These results underscore the importance of adequate selection of egg parasitoids for their use in biological control programs by augmentation against S. frugiperda.

Selection of suitable reference genes is crucial to accurately evaluate and normalize the relative expression level of target genes for gene function research. Our study selected suitable reference genes for analyzing the gene expression of Agrilus zanthoxylumi Hou (Coleoptera: Buprestidae). Six candidate genes were detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction: the histone gene, the β-tubulin gene, the actin gene, 18S ribosomal RNA, and 28S-1 and 28S-2 ribosomal RNA. The expression of the candidate reference genes in different tissue samples (head, thorax, abdomen, legs, and wings) of A. zanthoxylumi was evaluated and analyzed by using GeNorm, NormFinder, and BestKeeper software programs. Gene expression stability results show that the expression of the 28S-2 gene is the most stable of the six candidate genes in all tissues of female A. zanthoxylumi, followed by the 28S-1 gene. The actin gene has the most stable expression of the six genes in male tissues, followed by the 28S-2 gene. The screening results of reference genes with the most stable expression in different sexes and tissues obtained in this study can be used for the subsequent quantitative expression research of related genes and provide theoretical basis and reference materials for the research of related gene expression levels of A. zanthoxylumi.

Maize (Zea mays L.) that has been genetically modified (GM) with the insertion of Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner (Bt) genes for pest control has become a useful tool in modern agriculture. In México, planting of GM maize is not approved; however, field tests focused on the biotechnological efficacy of GM maize in controlling pests and the effects on nontarget organisms were authorized and conducted from 2009 to 2013. In Sinaloa, Mexico, plantings of the Bt corn hybrids Agrisure^™ 3000 GT, Agrisure^® Viptera^™ 3110, and Agrisure^® Viptera^™ 3111, along with their respective isolines without the Bt toxin, were compared for their impact on nontarget predators. An additional treatment with conventional insecticide also was included in the comparisons. Predator abundance, diversity, richness, and uniformity of diversity were estimated by sampling populations with yellow sticky traps, pitfall traps, and a standard insect sweep net. A total of 17,626 predators, representing nine taxonomic orders and 30 families, were collected over all treatments in the different localities. Although predator abundance was slightly higher on the GM hybrids than in non-GM lines, the differences were not statistically significant. Our results from these studies in Sinaloa, Mexico, conclude that GM maize expressing the Bt toxin had no adverse effect on the population density of nontarget predators.