Long‐term seasonal fluctuations of lepidopteran cereal stemborers and their natural enemies on maize and wild host plants in southern Benin

Abstract

Abstract The seasonal fluctuation of lepidopteran cereal stemborers on maize and wild host plants (i.e., grasses and a few sedges) was investigated in southern Benin from 1988 to 1998 by time series analysis and repeated‐measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). In addition, a walk‐in light trap was used to study the flight behavior of adult moths. On both cereals and grasses, the noctuid Sesamia calamistis was the predominant species, followed by the pyralid Eldana saccharina. The noctuid Busseola fusca was rare on both maize and wild host plants. In general, pest populations increased during the course of the year to reach peak densities during the second short rainy season, and then crashed to close to zero during the dry season. On wild host plants, egg masses and other immature stages were collected throughout the year but they were higher on wild grasses than maize during the off‐season. Thus wild host plants can be considered as refuge for both borers and natural enemies during the off‐season, when maize is not available. However, only four out of the eleven wild host species played a discernable role. S. calamistis egg densities appeared to be influenced by density‐dependent factors, suggesting an effect of natural enemies. Temperature and rainfall had a negative effect on egg abundance. Larval parasitism by a Kenyan strain of the braconid Cotesia sesamiae, which was released in southern Benin in the early 1990s, and by the tachinid Sturmiopsis parasitica varied between seasons and years but there were no discernable patterns. For both parasitoids and borer host species, parasitism was positively correlated with trap catches of adult moths. The recovery of C. sesamiae during a 2‐year period suggests that the parasitoid has established its population in southern Benin.