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Development of an artificial diet with a mass-rearing and low-cost approach for Spodoptera frugiperda reproduction

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Abstract

The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (JE Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is a pest that causes up to 70% of economic losses in low-input (e.g., non-transgenic) maize in Mexico, but also reproduces for commercial purposes in artificial or natural diets that require either abundant capital or intensive labor, respectively. The objective of this work was to develop an artificial diet with a mass-rearing approach and low-cost to reproduce S. frugiperda, which once achieved will allow us to reproduce under this same rearing concept the parasitoid Telenomus remus Nixon (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae), a beneficial insect reported to parasitize up to 91% of the egg masses of lepidopteran pests. After the execution of three sequential experimental phases, a diet was developed that produced adults 27.02% biologically inferior to those reproduced on corn foliage (control colony). This diet featured a low cost innovative approach for mass-rearing S. frugiperda: it consisted of inexpensive ingredients (considering only the ingredients, producing one full-grown larvae costs 0.032 USD), it did not require agar, its preservatives are commonly used in the bakery industry, and both household equipment as well as simple facilities were used; therefore, although it was inferior to corn foliage, it is considered a viable option. We hope that the simplicity of this diet in terms of facilities, procedures, and ingredients will open the possibility for rural farmers to produce T. remus under a mass-rearing and low-cost approach; thus, it can become a viable option for lepidopteran pest control in maize, especially within low-input systems worldwide.

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Acknowledgements

We thank to E. Gisela Cordoba-Urtiz and Rosa E. Garcia-Garcia for colony rearings; appreciation is also extended to Beatriz Rodriguez Velez (PhD), graduated of Entomology at Texas A&M in 2006, for polishing the English style of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Control Biológico, Centro Nacional de Referencia de Control Biológico CNRF-SENASICA, Colima, Mexico

    Jaime González-Cabrera, Yadira Contreras-Bermúdez & Jorge Antonio Sánchez-González

  2. Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad de Colima, Colima, Mexico

    José Manuel Gutiérrez-Campos

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  1. Jaime González-Cabrera
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  2. Yadira Contreras-Bermúdez
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  3. Jorge Antonio Sánchez-González
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Contributions

JGC, YCB and JASG planned the study; JGC, YCB and JMGC executed investigative and methodology work; JGC, YCB and JASG supervised maintenance of insect colonies; JGC, YCB, JASG and JMGC wrote the manuscript, and both JASG and JMGC polished the last version.

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Correspondence to José Manuel Gutiérrez-Campos.

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González-Cabrera, J., Contreras-Bermúdez, Y., Sánchez-González, J.A. et al. Development of an artificial diet with a mass-rearing and low-cost approach for Spodoptera frugiperda reproduction. Int J Trop Insect Sci (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42690-024-01228-2

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