Pomacea canaliculata is widely distributed in the Chinese provinces south of the Yangtze River, causing serious damage to aquatic ecosystems, rice cultivation, and human health. Predicting the potential geographic distributions (PGDs) of P. canaliculata under current and future climate conditions in China is crucial for developing effective early warning measures and facilitating long-term monitoring. In this study, we screened various species distribution models (SDMs), including CTA, GBM, GAM, RF, and XGBOOST, to construct an ensemble model (EM) and then predict suitable habitats for P. canaliculata under current and future climate scenarios (SSP1-26, SSP2-45, SSP3-70, SSP5-85). The EM (AUC = 0.99, TSS = 0.96) yielded predictions that were more precise than those from the individual models. The Annual Mean Temperature (Bio1) and Precipitation of the Warmest Quarter (Bio18) are the most significant environmental variables affecting the PGDs of P. canaliculata. Under current climate conditions, the highly suitable habitats for P. canaliculata are primarily located south of the Yangtze River, collectively accounting for 17.66% of the nation’s total area. Unsuitable habitats predominate in higher-latitude regions, collectively covering 66.79% of China’s total land area. In future climate scenarios, the total number of suitable habitats for P. canaliculata is projected to expand into higher latitude regions, especially under SSP3-70 and SSP5-85 climate conditions. The 4.1 °C contour of Bio1 and the 366 mm contour of Bio18 determine the northernmost geographical distribution of P. canaliculata. Climate change is likely to increase the risk of P. canaliculata expanding into higher latitudes.

Copper (Cu²⁺) is a micronutrient that promotes the development and reproduction of organisms. However, with the rapid expansion of modern industry and agriculture, Cu²⁺ concentrations are increasing, which might have negative impacts on biological and ecological safety. Spodoptera litura is not only an intermittent outbreak pest but also can be used as a model organism to assess environmental and ecological risks. Therefore, the effects of the life history and population parameters of S. litura fed on artificial diets with different Cu²⁺ concentrations were analyzed using the age-stage, two-sex life table. Our results showed that not only the preadult survival rate but also the intrinsic rate of increase (r) and the finite rate of increase (λ) were significantly increased under exposure to low Cu²⁺ concentrations (2, 4, and 8 mg/kg). In addition, the population growth of S. litura was significantly faster, indicating that S. litura can adapt well to low concentrations and is likely to undergo outbreaks of damage. Whereas, in addition to a significant reduction in preadult survival rate, population growth rate, pupal weight, pupal length, adult body weight, and oviposition were also significantly reduced under exposure to high Cu²⁺ concentration (32 mg/kg). And when the concentration reached 64 mg/kg, the survival rate of adults was extremely low, suggesting a decrease in the adaptation of S. litura. These results can help to understand the population dynamics of S. litura and predict potential ecological risks.

Zinc is an essential micronutrient crucial in various biological processes of an organism. However, the effects of zinc vary depending on its chemical form. Therefore, the aim of this study was to conduct a comparative analysis of the life history performances and hemolymph metabolism of Spodoptera litura exposed to different concentrations of dietary zinc chloride (ZnCl₂) and zinc sulfate (ZnSO₄), utilizing two-sex life tables and untargeted metabolomics. The preadult survival rate of S. litura significantly decreased, while the preadult developmental period of S. litura was prolonged as the dietary ZnCl₂ concentration increased. However, the fecundity of S. litura at 50 mg/kg dietary ZnCl₂ was significantly increased. The intrinsic rate of increase (r) and the finite rate of increase (λ) in S. litura in the control group (CK, no exogenous ZnCl₂ or ZnSO₄ added) and with 50 mg/kg dietary ZnCl₂ were significantly higher than those at 100 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg, and 300 mg/kg. Dietary ZnSO₄ exerts a devastating effect on the survival of S. litura. Even at the lowest concentration of 50 mg/kg dietary ZnSO₄, only 1% of S. litura could complete the entire life cycle. Furthermore, as the dietary ZnSO₄ concentration increased, the developmental stage achievable by the S. litura larvae declined. High-throughput untargeted metabolomics demonstrated that both 100 mg/kg dietary ZnCl₂ and ZnSO₄ decreased the hemolymph vitamins levels and increased the vitamin C content, thereby helping S. litura larvae to counteract the stress induced by ZnCl₂ and ZnSO₄. Simultaneously, dietary ZnCl₂ obstructed the chitin synthesis pathway in the hemolymph of S. litura, thus extending the developmental period of S. litura larvae. These results indicate that low concentrations of Zn²⁺ positively impact populations of S. litura, but the effectiveness and toxicity of Zn depend on its chemical form and concentration.

Salt-stressed maize is an economically important crop in many arid and semi-arid regions of the world where soil salinization is most common, and the invasive fall armyworm (FAW) Spodoptera frugiperda threatens global maize production. It thus poses a puzzle of whether FAW populations feeding on salt-stressed maize plants are becoming more or less invasive. Here, we evaluated the FAW response to salt-stressed maize plants by examining effects of salt-stressed maize plants on FAW survival, development and fecundity. We found a longer larval development time (salt-stressed, 12.9 +/- 0.8 d; non-stressed, 11.3 +/- 0.4 d), but unaffected survival rate and pupal mass accumulation in FAW feeding on salt-stressed maize plants. Moreover, the lifetime egg production of FAW females feeding on salt-stressed maize plants (633.5 +/- 62.7 eggs) was reduced by nearly half compared with those feeding on non-stressed maize plants (1255.9 +/- 70.3 eggs). Overall, FAW showed a negative response to salt-stressed maize plants. Due to limited population increase potential, FAW populations feeding on salt-stressed maize plants should pose less of a problem than ones feeding on non-stressed maize plants do. In practice, salt-stressed maize plants are quite common in arid and semi-arid regions where the relatively high-salinity groundwater is often used to irrigate maize plants, potentially limiting FAW population size. Thus, salt-stressed maize plants would contribute to practical applications of integrated pest management (IPM) strategies in controlling FAW.

Calcium ions (Ca²⁺), essential as second messengers in all cells, play a pivotal role as micronutrients in insects. However, few studies have explored the effects of both insufficient and excessive Ca²⁺ intake on life history performance and population parameters. This study examines the impact of varying Ca²⁺ intake levels-insufficient (0 mg/kg), appropriate (100 mg/kg), and excessive (250 mg/kg)-on the life history performance and population parameters of Spodoptera litura using two-sex life tables. Insufficient and excessive Ca²⁺ intakes significantly extended the preadult development period and decreased the preadult survival rates of S. litura, compared to those on an appropriate Ca²⁺ intake. The population parameters (Intrinsic rate of increase (r), Finite rate of increase (λ), and Net reproductive rate (R₀)) of S. litura on a 100 mg/kg diet (r = 0.1364, λ = 1.1462, R₀ = 390) were significantly higher than those on a 0 mg/kg diet (r = 0.1091, λ = 1.1153, R₀ = 130.52). Additionally, untargeted metabolomics analysis revealed that inappropriate Ca²⁺ levels (either insufficient or excessive) triggered significant up-regulation of 71.1 % and 92.8 % of the metabolites in the hemolymph, respectively, compared to the appropriate Ca²⁺ intake. Notably, disruptions in metabolite balance affected critical components such as melatonin and melanin within the tryptophan and tyrosine metabolism pathways. These findings underscore that both insufficient and excessive Ca²⁺ intakes adversely affect the life history performance and disrupt hemolymph metabolic balance in S. litura.

Both larvae and adults of the Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata feed on leaves of potatoes, tomatoes, and eggplants. Given the variation in planting times of host plants in the Jianghan Plain, host switching between larvae and adults of H. vigintioctopunctata is inevitable to ensure continuous food availability. We evaluated the effect of consistent versus diverse larval and adult host plant feeding experience on growth performance, fecundity, longevity, and feeding preferences of H. vigintioctopunctata through match-mismatch experiments. Host plant quality significantly influences larval development and adult reproduction. Potatoes are identified as the optimal host plant for H. vigintioctopunctata, whereas eggplants significantly negatively affect the adult fecundity. Adult stage host feeding experience determines the fecundity of H. vigintioctopunctata, irrespective of the larval feeding experience. The fecundity of H. vigintioctopunctata adults on eggplant leaves remains significantly lower than that observed on potato leaves. Similarly, adult H. vigintioctopunctata demonstrate a preference for consuming potato leaves, irrespective of the larval feeding experience. Although host switching between larval and adult stages offers lesser benefits for the performance of herbivorous insects compared to a consistent diet with potato leaves, it maintains H. vigintioctopunctata population continuity amidst shortages of high-quality potato hosts.