Abstract

Intra- and interspecific interactions within communities of species that utilize the same resources are characterized by competition or facilitation. The noctuid stemborers, Busseola fusca and Sesamia calamistis, and the crambid stemborer, Chilo partellus were the most important pests of maize in sub-Saharan Africa before the recent “invasion” of fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda, which currently seriously limits maize yields in Africa. This new pest is interacting with the stemborer community at the larval stage in the use of maize resources. From previous works on the influence of temperature on the larval intra- and interspecific resources utilization within the community of Lepidoptera stemborers involving B. fusca, S. calamistis, and C. partellus, there is a need to update these studies by adding the new pest, S. frugiperda, in order to understand the effect of temperature on the larval interactions of all these four species under the context of climate change. The influence of temperature on intra- and interspecific larval interactions was studied using artificial stems kept at different constant temperatures (15 °C, 20 °C, 25 °C, and 30 °C) in an incubator and assessing survival and relative growth rates of each species in single and multi-species experiments. After the inclusion of FAW into the experiments, with regard to relative growth rates, both intra- and interspecific competition was observed among all four species. With regard to survival rates, cannibalism can also explain the intra- and interspecific interactions observed among all four species. Interspecific competition was stronger between the stemborers than between the FAW and the stemborers. Similar to lepidopteran stemborers, temperature affected both survival and relative growth rates of the FAW as well. Regardless of the temperature, C. partellus was superior in interspecific interactions shown by higher relative growth and survival rates. The results suggest that the FAW will co-exist with stemborer species along entire temperature gradient, though competition and/or cannibalism with them is weak. In addition, temperature increases caused by climate change is likely to confer an advantage to C. partellus over the fall armyworm and the other noctuids.

Highlights

  • The noctuids Busseola fusca (Fuller) and Sesamia calamistis Hampson and the crambid Chilo partellus (Swinhoe) were considered as the economically most important pests of maize and sorghum in sub-Saharan Africa [1,2,3,4,5,6] before the recent “invasion” of the fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda

  • Larvae of stemborers (B. fusca: Bf, C. partellus: Cp, S. calamistis: Sc) and FAW were supplied by the Animal Rearing and Containment Unit (ARCU) at icipe

  • While there were no statistical differences between rearing substrates for relative growth rates (RGR) (F = 2.56, p = 0.12), higher larval survival rates were obtained from surrogates and Petri dishes than maize plants

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Summary

Introduction

The noctuids Busseola fusca (Fuller) and Sesamia calamistis Hampson and the crambid Chilo partellus (Swinhoe) were considered as the economically most important pests of maize and sorghum in sub-Saharan Africa [1,2,3,4,5,6] before the recent “invasion” of the fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda FAW was first reported from the western region of Kenya in 2017 but by early 2018, it has been confirmed in more than 42 counties throughout the country [9]. This new pest is showing at larval stages frequent interactions with the stemborer community in the use of maize resources [10]

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