Effect of Rabbit Urine on the Larval Behavior, Larval Mortality, Egg Hatchability, Adult Emergence and Oviposition Preference of the Fall Armyworm ( Spodoptera frugiperda J.E. Smith)

Diana Kemunto, Evanson R. Omuse, David K. Mfuti, Amanuel Tamiru, Girma Hailu, Ignath Rwiza, Yeneneh T. Belayneh, Sevgan Subramanian and Saliou Niassy ()
Additional contact information
Diana Kemunto: International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology ( icipe ), Nairobi P.O. Box 30772-00100, Kenya
Evanson R. Omuse: International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology ( icipe ), Nairobi P.O. Box 30772-00100, Kenya
David K. Mfuti: International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology ( icipe ), Nairobi P.O. Box 30772-00100, Kenya
Amanuel Tamiru: International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology ( icipe ), Nairobi P.O. Box 30772-00100, Kenya
Girma Hailu: International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology ( icipe ), Nairobi P.O. Box 30772-00100, Kenya
Ignath Rwiza: Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI), Mwanza P.O. Box 1433, Tanzania
Yeneneh T. Belayneh: USAID/BHA/TPQ, Washington, DC 20523, USA
Sevgan Subramanian: International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology ( icipe ), Nairobi P.O. Box 30772-00100, Kenya
Saliou Niassy: International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology ( icipe ), Nairobi P.O. Box 30772-00100, Kenya

Agriculture, 2022, vol. 12, issue 8, 1-15

Abstract: The fall armyworm (FAW) ( Spodoptera frugiperda J.E. Smith) is a major cereal pest threatening food security in Africa. African smallholder farmers apply various indigenous pest management practices, including rabbit urine; however, there is no scientific evidence for its efficacy. The FAW eggs, first, second and third instar larvae and moths were exposed to rabbit urine-treated maize leaves alongside untreated maize leaves (control). More FAW larvae (46.0–70.0%) remained on the untreated leaves than those (27.0–43.0%) on the rabbit urine-treated leaves. Rabbit urine caused 6.4 and 12.8% damage reduction of the second and third instars, respectively, 24 h post-exposure. Rabbit urine significantly reduced the survival of FAW, had a lethal time (LT 50 ) of 5.0, 7.3 and 8.7 days and a lethal dose (LD 50 ) of 48, 94, and 55% for the first, second and third instars, respectively. Egg hatchability and adult emergence were reduced by 55.0 and 13.3%, respectively. The FAW female moths laid more eggs on the rabbit urine-treated plants (647 ± 153 eggs) than they did on the untreated plants (72 ± 64 eggs). This study confirms farmers’ assertions about using rabbit urine to manage FAW. For successful integration into the FAW IPM package, additional studies on the chemistry of rabbit urine, the behavioral response and the field might be required.

Keywords: agroecological farming systems; biopesticides; indigenous knowledge; maize; IPM package; oviposition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/12/8/1282/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/12/8/1282/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:12:y:2022:i:8:p:1282-:d:894755

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().