The fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda is a prime noctuid pest of maize on the American continents where it has remained confined despite occasional interceptions by European quarantine services in recent years. The pest has currently become a new invasive species in West and Central Africa where outbreaks were recorded for the first time in early 2016. The presence of at least two distinct haplotypes within samples collected on maize in Nigeria and São Tomé suggests multiple introductions into the African continent. Implications of this new threat to the maize crop in tropical Africa are briefly discussed.

The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, a moth originating from tropical and subtropical America, has recently become a serious pest of cereals in sub-Saharan Africa. Biological control offers an economically and environmentally safer alternative to synthetic insecticides that are being used for the management of this pest. Consequently, various biological control options are being considered, including the introduction of Telenomus remus, the main egg parasitoid of S. frugiperda in the Americas, where it is already used in augmentative biological control programmes. During surveys in South, West, and East Africa, parasitized egg masses of S. frugiperda were collected, and the emerged parasitoids were identified through morphological observations and molecular analyses as T. remus. The presence of T. remus in Africa in at least five countries provides a great opportunity to develop augmentative biological control methods and register the parasitoid against S. frugiperda. Surveys should be carried out throughout Africa to assess the present distribution of T. remus on the continent, and the parasitoid could be re-distributed in the regions where it is absent, following national and international regulations. Classical biological control should focus on the importation of larval parasitoids from the Americas.

The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, a moth originating from the American continent, has recently invaded most African countries, where it is seriously threatening food security as a pest of cereals. The current management methods rely heavily on the use of synthetic insecticides but there is a need for more sustainable control methods, including biological control. Surveys were conducted in two West African countries, Ghana and Benin, to determine the native parasitoid complex and assess parasitism rates of S. frugiperda. Samples of S. frugiperda eggs and larvae were collected in maize fields located in 56 and 90 localities of Ghana and Benin, respectively, from July 2018 to July 2019. Ten species were found parasitizing the pest, including two egg parasitoids, one egg–larval, five larval and two larval–pupal parasitoids. The two most abundant parasitoids in both countries were two Braconidae: the egg-larval parasitoid Chelonus bifoveolatus and the larval parasitoid Coccygidum luteum. Parasitism rates were determined in three Ghanaian regions and averages varied from 0% to 75% between sites and from 5% to 38% between regions. These data provide an important baseline for the development of various biological control options. The two egg parasitoids, Telenomus remus and Trichogramma sp. can be used in augmentative biological control and investigations should be conducted to assess how cultural practices can enhance the action of the main parasitoids, C. luteum and Ch. bifoveolatus, in the field. Understanding the parasitoid complex of S. frugiperda in Africa is also necessary before any development of classical biological controls involving the introduction of parasitoids from the Americas.

In 2003, the invasive fruit fly Bactrocera invadens Drew, Tsuruta & White (Diptera: Tephritidae) (Drew et al. 2005), of possible Sri Lankan origi

The recent discovery of fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda, J.E. Smith) in Africa presents a significant threat to that continent’s food security. The species exhibits several traits in the Western Hemisphere that if transferred to Africa would significantly complicate control efforts. These include a broad host range, long-distance migratory behavior, and resistance to multiple pesticides that varies by regional population. Therefore, determining which fall armyworm subpopulations are present in Africa could have important implications for risk assessments and mitigation efforts. The current study is an extension of earlier surveys that together combine the collections from 11 nations to produce the first genetic description of fall armyworm populations spanning the sub-Saharan region. Comparisons of haplotype frequencies indicate significant differences between geographically distant populations. The haplotype profile from all locations continue to identify Florida and the Caribbean regions as the most likely Western Hemisphere origins of the African infestations. The current data confirm the uncertainty of fall armyworm strain identification in Africa by genetic methods, with the possibility discussed that the African infestation may represent a novel interstrain hybrid population of potentially uncertain behavioral characteristics.

The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is an invasive insect pest attacking maize in Ghana and sub-Saharan Africa countries. Biological control will need to be an important management strategy, and a first step was to identify potential natural enemies. Sampling was conducted in different localities of the 10 regions of Ghana from May to Nov 2017. A total of 1,062 larvae were collected from 106 maize farms, and the presence of natural enemies was recorded in 18 (17.0%) farms. Among natural enemies recorded, 7 species were parasitoids: Chelonus bifoveolatus Szpligeti, Coccygidium luteum (Brull), Cotesia icipe Fernandez, Meteoridea testacea (Granger), and Bracon sp. (all Hymenoptera: Braconidae), Anatrichus erinaceus Loew (Diptera: Chloropidae), and an undetermined tachinid fly (Diptera: Tachinidae). The parasitism rate was 3.58%. Three predator species were collected: Pheidole megacephala (F.) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Haematochares obscuripennis Stål, and Peprius nodulipes (Signoret) (both Heteroptera: Reduviidae). The 2 most abundant parasitoids were C. bifoveolatus and C. luteum with a relative abundance of 29.0% and 23.7%, respectively, and a parasitism rate of 1.04% and 0.85%, respectively. However, C. bifoveolatus was the most dispersed parasitoid, found in 6.6% of the inspected sites within all the agroecological zones of Ghana. This species is a good candidate as a biological control agent for fall armyworm in Africa. The predator that was most abundant (46.0%) and dispersed (3.8% of the farms) was P. megacephala.