First record, seasonal incidence and life cycle of fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E.Smith) in maize at Sabour, Bhagalpur, Bihar

Abstract

Fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda was noticed for the first time in the month of August, 2019 feeding on maize crop at Sabour, Bhagalpur, Bihar. The experiment was conducted for seasonal incidence and life cycle studies of fall armyworm. Seasonal incidence studies revealed that the incidence of fall armyworm started in the 1st week of August at 30 days old crop with initial percent infestation 9.71and reached to peak 35.43 percent infestation in the third week of August at 45 days old crop during Kharif, 2019 cropping season while its activity started from the first week of January with initial percent infestation of 3.54 at 30 days old crop and the peak infestation was noticed in the fourth week of February at 82 days old crop during Rabi, 2019-20. The life cycle studies of fall armyworm during 2019-20 revealed that the incubation period was 2-3 days. Larval period ranged from15 to18 days in which first to fourth instar larval period ranged with 2-3 days, fifth and sixth instar with 3-4 days and 3-5 days, respectively. Pupal period was 8-10 days and adults lived for 6-8 days.