Potential for using maize as a trap crop for the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (lepidopter : noctuidae), where sorghum and maize are intercropped on subsistence farms
The effectiveness of a maize trap crop in reducing fall-armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith), larva infestations on sorghum, Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench, in areas where sorghum and maize, Zea mays L., are grown together in the same field was investigated in small plots at Choluteca, Honduras, in 1984 and at Starkville, Mississippi, in 1984 and 1985. Infestations of FAW larvae were similar on sorghum treatments with and without the maize trap crop in Honduras and in one test in Mississippi (1984). Apparently, the area ratio of 2:1 for sorghum: maize plantings in close proximity did not differentially restrict FAW activity on the preferred maize plants. However, significantly higher FAW larval infestations and plant damage were observed on maize than on sorghum in pure stand or when grown together with maize as the trap crop in a second test conducted in 1985 in Mississippi. The results of these studies support reported observations in greenhouse and field cages showing higher oviposition by FAW moths on maize than on sorghum. (Author abstract)
