Seasonal Periodicity of Fall Armyworm, (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in the Caribbean Basin and Northward to Canada

Sex pheromone traps were used to monitor the seasonal periodicity of the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith), moth over a 2-year period at eight locations from French Guiana northward to Canada. Results indicated a seasonal progression of movement by fall armyworm from the southern most locations in the United States into Canada. Although the fall armyworm survives throughout the year in the Caribbean Basin, analysis of moth capture and meteorological data for the region provided no direct evidence that this reservoir of continuous populations contributed significantly to the influx of this pest into the temperate regions of North America where it normally does not survive the winter. Weather disturbances along the Atlantic seaboard of the northeastern U.S. and Canada in October 1984 and an associated precipitous decline in moth captures in pheromone traps supports a previous hypothesis of a return (southward) migration by fall armyworm.