The potential of <i>Telenomus remus</i> Nixon (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) as a biological control agent for <i>Spodoptera frugiperda</i> in Flores, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

Abstract Spodoptera frugiperda is an emerging pest that is swiftly disseminating over numerous countries globally., including Indonesia. Until now, there has been no investigation of the potential biological control, particularly those belonging to the S. frugiperda egg parasitoid group. This research was conducted using a purposive sampling method, by taking S. frugiperda eggs mass from corn plantings to be reared at the Laboratory. This research aims to determine their morphological and molecular characteristics, distribution, parasitization level, and sex ratio. The results showed that based on morphological and molecular characteristics, the parasitoid that parasitized S. frugiperda eggs in Flores, East Nusa Tenggara was the same as Telenomus remus Nixon (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) with morphological characteristics of body size 0.44 - 0.66 mm, black color, wings membranous and hairy with brown bands on the edges of the wings, male antennae are clavate and female are moniliform segmented, female limbs are darker and males are paler and are related to T. remus India with a genetic distance of 99.8%. The distribution of parasitoids in Flores is at an altitude of &lt;500 to &gt;1000 masl with a random distribution pattern. The parasitization rate is 66.78% with a sex ratio of 1: 3.