Appearance of Fall Armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda as A New Invasive Insect Pest on Maize Plants in the Nile Delta, Egypt

Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctudiae) is an insect pest that attacks many crops around the world and causing large reductions in the crop yield, including Graminaceous crops, especially maize. This pest introduced Egypt from Sudan, was recorded for the first time in Egypt in 2019 at Aswan Governorate on corn plants, and recently recorded in Assiut Governorate in 2021. In this study, the presence of S. frugiperda was detected in the Nile Delta of the northern part of Egypt, since it was transferred from the Upper Egypt governorates. Identification was made by observing the symptoms of infection on the investigated corn plants and the morphological characteristics of insect stages, such as holes on leaves and stems with larval feces, and presence of a white Y-shape on the head and 4 crescent-shaped black spots on all abdominal segments, except for the eighth segment, where they are square shaped. Further, the pupa has a pair of straight thorns at the end, while the adult insect has a row of small scales near the apical margin of the wing and the color of the wing changes from grayish brown to rusty brown. This study proves the presence S. frugiperda in northern part of Egypt, and because this pest has been detected, identified and its dispersal and crop destruction has been confirmed in many governorates of Egypt, it is necessary to update the geographical maps of its local distribution, to apply the recommended control approaches as a way to minimize its impacts on the agricultural crops. Further studies on its biology, host range, and food preference have to be taken in account.