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ARS Home » Plains Area » College Station, Texas » Southern Plains Agricultural Research Center » Insect Control and Cotton Disease Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #363196
Research Project: Detection and Biologically Based Management of Row Crop Pests Concurrent with Boll Weevil Eradication

Location: Insect Control and Cotton Disease Research

Title: Multigenerational migration of fall armyworm, a pest insect

Author
item WESTBROOK, JOHN - Retired ARS Employee
item FLEISCHER, SHELBY - Pennsylvania State University
item JAIRAM, SID - Texas A&M University
item Meagher, Robert - Rob
item Nagoshi, Rodney

Submitted to: Ecosphere
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/3/2019
Publication Date: 11/1/2019
Citation: Westbrook, J., Fleischer, S., Jairam, S., Meagher Jr, R.L., Nagoshi, R.N. 2019. Multigenerational migration of fall armyworm, a pest insect. Ecosphere. 10(11). https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2919.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2919

Interpretive Summary: Successive generations of migratory crop pest insect populations generally advance poleward during the growing season, but meteorological influences are not clearly understood. We coupled biological and physical processes for an invasive agricultural pest, fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda), by modeling its seasonal migration, and comparing simulated migrations to observed captures and population genetic markers at a continental scale. Simulations corroborated the spatial distribution and mixing of distinctive Texas and Florida source populations defined genetically. Positive relationships were found between first weeks of simulated and observed immigration, and between genetic and simulated metrics. Knowledge of annual variability of insect migrations will aid in strategic implementation of crop protection measures, economic analyses of regional deployment of host resistant germplasm, and projections of biological- and climate-induced shifts in insect distributions.

Technical Abstract: Multigenerational insect migration expands poleward, but meteorological influences are not clearly understood. We coupled biological and physical processes for the agricultural and invasive pest fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, by modeling its seasonal migration, and comparing simulated migrations to observed captures, and population genetic markers, at a continental scale. Simulations corroborated the spatial distribution and mixing of Texas and Florida source populations defined by genetic haplotypes. Positive relationships were found between first weeks of simulated and observed immigration, and between genetic and simulated metrics. Knowledge of annual variability of insect migrations will aid in strategic implementation of crop protection measures, economic analyses of regional deployment of host resistant germplasm, and projections of biotic- and climate-induced shifts in insect distributions that encompass meteorological influences on migration.