First Report on <i>Megaselia scalaris</i> Loew (Diptera: Phoridae) Infestation of the Invasive Pest <i>Spodoptera frugiperda</i> Smith (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in China
Yunlin Tang,
Qingyan Li,
Li Xiang,
Ruocheng Gu,
Yanyan Wu,
Yonghong Zhang,
Xingrong Bai,
Xiaohui Niu,
Tian Li,
Junhong Wei,
Guoqing Pan,
Zeyang Zhou
Affiliations
Yunlin Tang
State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Qingyan Li
State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Li Xiang
State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Ruocheng Gu
State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Yanyan Wu
State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Yonghong Zhang
Institute of Sericulture and Apiculture, Yunnan Academy of Agriculture Sciences, Mengzi 661101, China
Xingrong Bai
Institute of Sericulture and Apiculture, Yunnan Academy of Agriculture Sciences, Mengzi 661101, China
Xiaohui Niu
Crop Seed Management Station of Chongqing, Chongqing 401121, China
Tian Li
State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Junhong Wei
State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Guoqing Pan
State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Zeyang Zhou
State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
The invasive pest Spodoptera frugiperda first emerged in China in January 2019 and has, to date, migrated to 29 provinces and municipalities in China, causing heavy crop damage in large areas. As a response to this invasive species from the environment, some indigenous natural enemies have been discovered and reported after S. frugiperda invasion. In this paper, parasitic flies were collected and identified from S. frugiperda collected in the Yunnan, Guangxi, and Henan provinces and the Chongqing municipality in China. By using both conventional and molecular approaches, we were able to show that all the parasitic flies of S. frugiperda identified in the four regions were Megaselia. scalaris, and that they attacked the pest larvae and pupae. This is the first report on an indigenous Chinese Megaselia species that has parasitic ability against the invasive pest S. frugiperda, potentially providing new ideas for pest control in China.
