Abstract
BackgroundSpodoptera litura Fabricius (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is an important pest causing severe damage to many cultivating plants such as corn worldwide, including Indonesia. This study was performed to obtain and identify entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) of S. litura collected from corn fields in 4 corn producing regions of Lampung, Indonesia, as well as to investigate the damage caused by this pest on corn in Lampung Province.ResultsThree corn fields in each region were selected for collecting soil samples. Soil samples were collected from 5 corn plant rhizospheres, at each field in six months of survey. Ten larvae of Tenebrio molitor Linnaeus (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) were laid on each soil sample as a bait, covered with a filter paper and incubated at room temperature. The emerging fungi from T. molitor cadaver were transferred onto Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) medium and incubated for 7 days at room temperature. Pathogenicity test was determined against 3rd instar of S. litura larvae. Identification was performed based on the sequence of Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) Region. Observations on the corn damage caused by S. litura were conducted at all corn producing areas in Lampung. Twelve fungal isolates were obtained causing 0–75% of mortality of S. litura. Four fungal isolates (NKPT, SKHJ, SDHJ and RAHJ), which caused mortality more than 20%, were further identified. One isolate (NKPT) was confirmed as Beauveria bassiana and the other 3 isolates (SKHJ, SDHJ and RAHJ) were Aspergillus oryzae. S. litura generally caused slight damages to the corn which was found in every observation year performed during 2010–2019. Medium plant damage was observed in 2010–2012 and 2018–2019, severe damage was found in 2011 and crop failure was recorded in 2018.ConclusionsAspergillus oryzae and B. bassiana were the EPF recorded infecting S. litura in corn in Lampung Province. This was the first report on the isolates of A. oryzae as EPF of S. litura in Indonesia. Slight damages with S. litura were always recorded in every observation year but not for those of medium and severe damages and crop failure.
Highlights
Spodoptera litura Fabricius (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is an important pest causing severe damage to many cultivating plants such as corn worldwide, including Indonesia
Soil samples were collected from 5 corn plant rhizospheres at 10–15 cm of depth, which were diagonally and randomly chosen
Fungal isolates obtained from infected Tenebrio molitor Totally, 12 fungal isolates were recovered from the infected T. molitor larvae (Additional file 2: Fig. S1) which were previously laid on the 8 soil samples as lure of entomopathogenic fungi (EPF), i.e., Kemiling Permai (1 isolate), Rajabasa Raya (1 isolate), Sukaraja (2 isolates), Natar (2 isolates), Sidosari (2 isolates), Rejoagung (1 isolate), Negeri Katon (2 isolates) and Balerejo (1 isolate)
Summary
Spodoptera litura Fabricius (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is an important pest causing severe damage to many cultivating plants such as corn worldwide, including Indonesia. This study was performed to obtain and identify entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) of S. litura collected from corn fields in 4 corn producing regions of Lampung, Indonesia, as well as to investigate the damage caused by this pest on corn in Lampung Province. The tobacco caterpillar, Spodoptera litura Fabricius (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is one of the economic pest causing serious damages in a large number of cultivating plants worldwide (Bragard et al 2019) as well as in Indonesia (Ngatimin and Nasruddin 2019), covering 40 plant families (Bragard et al 2019). A report in the Philippines confirmed that S. litura caused moderate to severe damages to corn (Gerpacio et al 2004). Once the EPF has spread in host populations, it provides lifetimes of pest control (Scheepmaker and Butt 2010)
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