Brazil recently harvested its second crop of maize, popularly known as “safrinha maize” in its Central and South regions. According to Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), the most serious pest this crop faces is the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda), which can cause losses of more than 40% in corn production, the main cereal grown in Brazil.
Brazil recently harvested its second crop of maize, popularly known as “safrinha maize” in its Central and South regions. According to Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), the most serious pest this crop faces is the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda), which can cause losses of more than 40% in corn production, the main cereal grown in Brazil.
Fall armyworm is also one of the major problems for rice cultivation, and is present in practically the entire Brazilian territory, affecting crops such as chard, watercress, lettuce, alfalfa, cotton, common chicory, alstroemeria, peanuts, rice, roasted rice, oats, potatoes, antirrhinum majus, broccoli, sugarcane, carrots, rye, barley, chicory, coconuts, cauliflower, chrysanthemums, Peace Lily, spinach, beans, gerbera, gypsophila, lisianthus, casserole, cassava, passion fruit, millet, corn, mustard, pastures, pepper, capsicum, cabbage, rose, arugula, rubber, soybeans, sorghum, stevia, all cultures with the occurrence of the biological target, tomatoes, wheat and triticale.
The newly hatched caterpillars of the Spodoptera frugiperda scrape the leaves and lodge in the so-called corn cartridge, where their excrements are found. By destruction of the cartridge, especially in the phase close to flowering, expressive damages can be caused, further accentuated during periods of drought. The damage is greater when the attack occurs in plants with 8 to 10 leaves. This species attacks the cartridge preferentially, but can also be found attacking seedlings, with a habit similar to that of the threaded caterpillar, spikes and, also, piercing the base of the plant, reaching the point of growth and provoking the symptom of “typical dead heart”.
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