Abstract
BackgroundThe fall Armyworm (FAW) Spodoptera frugiperda (JE Smith), is currently a devastating pest throughout the world due to its dispersal capacity and voracious feeding behaviour on several crops. A MaxEnt species distributions model (SDM) was developed based on collected FAW occurrence and environmental data’s. Bioclimatic zones were identified and the potential distribution of FAW in South Kivu, eastern DR Congo, was predicted.ResultsMean annual temperature (bio1), annual rainfall (bio12), temperature seasonality (bio4) and longest dry season duration (llds) mainly affected the FAW potential distribution. The average area under the curve value of the model was 0.827 demonstrating the model efficient accuracy. According to Jackknife test of variable importance, the annual rainfall was found to correspond to the highest gain when used in isolation. FAWs’ suitable areas where this pest is likely to be present in South Kivu province are divided into two corridors. The Eastern corridor covering the Eastern areas of Kalehe, Kabare, Walungu, Uvira and Fizi territories and the Western corridor covering the Western areas of Kalehe, Kabare, Walungu and Mwenga.ConclusionsThis research provides important information on the distribution of FAW and bioclimatic zones in South Kivu. Given the rapid spread of the insect and the climatic variability observed in the region that favor its development and dispersal, it would be planned in the future to develop a monitoring system and effective management strategies to limit it spread and crop damage.
Highlights
The fall Armyworm (FAW) Spodoptera frugiperda (JE Smith), is currently a devastating pest throughout the world due to its dispersal capacity and voracious feeding behaviour on several crops
Nagoshi et al [36] have even reported that the African infestation may represent a new hybrid population with potentially uncertain behavioral feeding characteristics to become a serious problem for Africa, including Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
Bioclimatic zones of the South Kivu province Three bioclimatic zones obtained by clustering using bioclimatic data were presented (Fig. 1)
Summary
The fall Armyworm (FAW) Spodoptera frugiperda (JE Smith), is currently a devastating pest throughout the world due to its dispersal capacity and voracious feeding behaviour on several crops. Its presence was first reported on the African continent in 2016 [20] and Cokola et al BMC Ecol (2020) 20:66 the behavioral characteristics of FAW strains in the Western Hemisphere indicated that two main strains, namely on rice and on maize, are able to mate with each other despite the existence of hybridization barriers [35, 38, 47, 50] Both rice and maize strains can be found and collected from a single host plant species [29, 37, 47]. According to Westbrook et al [56], the initiation and displacement patterns of insect migrations are dependent on these environmental factors
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