In-Vitro Assessment of Host Suitability of Thirty-One Bamboo Species to the Invasive Polyphagous Pest Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Abstract

The fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) which is a highly invasive and polyphagous pest native to the Americas, has rapidly expanded its range, establishing itself across Asia, including India since 2018. Its arrival creates a serious biosecurity threat, not only to agricultural crops but also to non-traditional hosts such as forest and plantation species. Bamboos are critical to India’s forestry economy and ecosystem functions, remain largely unexplored as potential hosts. In this study, we conducted an in-vitro host suitability assessment of S. frugiperda across thirty-one commercially viable bamboo species using Ricinus communis as a positive control. Our results identified Dendrocalamus latiflorus, D. stocksii (=Pseudoxytenanthera stocksii), Thyrsostachys oliveri and T. siamensis as highly susceptible to larval feeding, indicating their vulnerability in open or plantation settings. In contrast, species such as D. strictus, P. madhavii, Ochlandra travancorica, Bambusa pallida, D. longispathus, O. ebracteata, and Schizostachyum brachycladum demonstrated strong resistance with minimal feeding. A network diagram constructed from the feeding response data visually delineates clusters of susceptible and resistant species; highlighting potential candidates for pest-resilient bamboo cultivation. Given the ecological and economic importance of bamboo in India, these findings underscore the urgent need to integrate pest risk assessment into bamboo agroforestry planning and breeding programs. This study serves as a first step toward understanding the host range expansion potential of S. frugiperda in forestry systems and provides valuable insights for future pest management and policy strategies concerning invasive pests in silviculture species.