Legume-based artificial diets for laboratory rearing of the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae): development, reproduction, production cost and shelf life

The fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith), is a destructive invasive pest of maize, and research on its management depends on a steady supply of uniform test insects. Natural diets are laborious and difficult to standardize, making artificial diets attractive. We compared four flour-based artificial diets, in which soybean (P1), kidney bean (P2), peanut (P3) or corn (P4) flour was the main ingredient, with baby corn as the natural diet (P0), in a randomized complete block design with five replicates.