Comestible and temperature effects on the biological traits of fall armyworms, Spodoptera frugiperda

Abstract Spodoptera frugiperda is considered a serious pest for many crops throughout the world. Here, we develop an easy and quick‐to‐prepare solid medium with multiple benefits, including reductions in cost, post‐rearing waste, storage space, and labor, for rearing S. frugiperda larvae. The body length and weight at each development stage showed no differences with those of the corn leaves treatment group (P > 0.05). The development time of F0 generation from the first to adults stage was 51.27 ± 4.62 days when the larvae were reared on artificial diet, which is slightly longer than the 50.69 ± 4.56 days for those reared on corn leaves diet (P > 0.05). The temperature changes have no effect on body length and weight when the fall armyworms are reared on artificial diet, however, the influence of temperature change on development was more obvious. The development time was significantly longer at 18°C and shorter at 35°C than that at 25°C (P < 0.05). Furthermore, in the age‐specific two‐sex life table method, the life table parameters (i.e., r, λ, R0, GRR) significantly decreased at 18°C and 35°C compared with those at 25°C. The age–stage survival rate of S. frugiperda was higher on artificial diet at 25°C than 18°C, 35°C, and on corn leaves at 25°C in all stages. The 35°C temperature change had more influence on the age–stage survival than the other temperatures. This study provided ideal indoor breeding conditions for fall armyworm and sufficient materials for further indoor and outdoor research.