Abstract
The fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a recent invasive pest species that has successfully established across sub-Saharan Africa where it continues to disrupt agriculture, particularly smallholder cereal production. Management of FAW in its native range in the Americas has led to the development of resistance to many commercial pesticides before its arrival in Africa. Pesticide use may therefore be ineffective for FAW control in Africa, so new and more sustainable approaches to pest management are required that can help reduce the impact of this exotic pest. Pesticidal plants provide an effective and established approach to pest management in African smallholder farming and recent research has shown that their use can be cost-beneficial and sustainable. In order to optimize the use of botanical extracts for FAW control, we initially screened ten commonly used plant species. In laboratory trials, contact toxicity and feeding bioassays showed differential effects. Some plant species had little to no effect when compared to untreated controls; thus, only the five most promising plant species were selected for more detailed study. In contact toxicity tests, the highest larval mortality was obtained from Nicotiana tabacum (66%) and Lippia javanica (66%). Similarly, in a feeding bioassay L. javanica (62%) and N. tabacum (60%) exhibited high larval mortality at the highest concentration evaluated (10% w/v). Feeding deterrence was evaluated using glass-fibre discs treated with plant extracts, which showed that Cymbopogon citratus (36%) and Azadirachta indica (20%) were the most potent feeding deterrents among the pesticidal plants evaluated. In a screenhouse experiment where living maize plants infested with fall armyworm larvae were treated with plant extracts, N. tabacum and L. javanica were the most potent species at reducing foliar damage compared to the untreated control whilst the synthetic pesticide chlorpyrifos was the most effective in reducing fall armyworm foliar damage. Further field trial evaluation is recommended, particularly involving smallholder maize fields to assess effectiveness across a range of contexts.
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Claims 11
Claim · model-written summary
Nicotiana tabacum extract gave the highest contact-toxicity larval mortality (66%) against fall armyworm.
- Taxon
- Nicotiana tabacum
Nicotiana tabacume1
- Treatment
- contact toxicity testse1
- Interactor
- Spodoptera frugiperda
Spodoptera frugiperdae0pest - Outcome
- larval mortalitye1
- Direction
- higheste1
- Value
- 66%e1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
e0“The fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a recent invasive pest species”
e1“In contact toxicity tests, the highest larval mortality was obtained from Nicotiana tabacum (66%) and Lippia javanica (66%)”
Claim · model-written summary
Lippia javanica extract gave the highest contact-toxicity larval mortality (66%) against fall armyworm.
- Taxon
- Lippia javanica
Lippia javanicae1 - Treatment
- contact toxicity testse1
- Interactor
- Spodoptera frugiperda
Spodoptera frugiperdae0pest - Outcome
- larval mortalitye1
- Direction
- higheste1
- Value
- 66%e1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
e0“The fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a recent invasive pest species”
e1“In contact toxicity tests, the highest larval mortality was obtained from Nicotiana tabacum (66%) and Lippia javanica (66%)”
Claim · model-written summary
Lippia javanica caused high larval mortality (62%) in a feeding bioassay at the highest concentration tested (10% w/v).
- Taxon
- L. javanica
Lippia javanicae2 - Treatment
- feeding bioassaye2
- Interactor
- Spodoptera frugiperda
Spodoptera frugiperdae0pest - Outcome
- larval mortalitye2
- Direction
- highe2
- Value
- 62%e2
- Qualifier
- at the highest concentration evaluated (10% w/v)e2
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
e0“The fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a recent invasive pest species”
e2“Similarly, in a feeding bioassay L. javanica (62%) and N. tabacum (60%) exhibited high larval mortality at the highest concentration evaluated (10% w/v)”
Claim · model-written summary
Nicotiana tabacum caused high larval mortality (60%) in a feeding bioassay at the highest concentration tested (10% w/v).
- Taxon
- N. tabacum
Nicotiana tabacume2
- Treatment
- feeding bioassaye2
- Interactor
- Spodoptera frugiperda
Spodoptera frugiperdae0pest - Outcome
- larval mortalitye2
- Direction
- highe2
- Value
- 60%e2
- Qualifier
- at the highest concentration evaluated (10% w/v)e2
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
e0“The fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a recent invasive pest species”
e2“Similarly, in a feeding bioassay L. javanica (62%) and N. tabacum (60%) exhibited high larval mortality at the highest concentration evaluated (10% w/v)”
Claim · model-written summary
Cymbopogon citratus extract was the most potent feeding deterrent (36%) among the pesticidal plants evaluated.
- Taxon
- Cymbopogon citratus
Cymbopogon citratuse3 - Treatment
- glass-fibre discs treated with plant extractse3
- Interactor
- Spodoptera frugiperda
Spodoptera frugiperdae0pest - Outcome
- Feeding deterrencee3
- Direction
- most potente3
- Value
- 36%e3
- Comparator
- the pesticidal plants evaluatede3
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
e0“The fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a recent invasive pest species”
e3“Feeding deterrence was evaluated using glass-fibre discs treated with plant extracts, which showed that Cymbopogon citratus (36%) and Azadirachta indica (20%) were the most potent feeding deterrents among the pesticidal plants evaluated”
Claim · model-written summary
Azadirachta indica extract was a potent feeding deterrent (20%) among the pesticidal plants evaluated.
- Taxon
- Azadirachta indica
Azadirachta indicae3 - Treatment
- glass-fibre discs treated with plant extractse3
- Interactor
- Spodoptera frugiperda
Spodoptera frugiperdae0pest - Outcome
- Feeding deterrencee3
- Direction
- most potente3
- Value
- 20%e3
- Comparator
- the pesticidal plants evaluatede3
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
.jpg?width=500)
.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
e0“The fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a recent invasive pest species”
e3“Feeding deterrence was evaluated using glass-fibre discs treated with plant extracts, which showed that Cymbopogon citratus (36%) and Azadirachta indica (20%) were the most potent feeding deterrents among the pesticidal plants evaluated”
Claim · model-written summary
Nicotiana tabacum and Lippia javanica extracts were the most potent at reducing fall armyworm foliar damage on screenhouse maize compared with the untreated control.
- Treatment
- plant extractse4
- Interactor
- fall armyworm
Spodoptera frugiperdae4pest - Outcome
- foliar damagee4
- Direction
- reducinge4
- Qualifier
- N. tabacum and L. javanica were the most potent speciese4
- Comparator
- untreated controle4
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
e4“In a screenhouse experiment where living maize plants infested with fall armyworm larvae were treated with plant extracts, N. tabacum and L. javanica were the most potent species at reducing foliar damage compared to the untreated control”
Claim · model-written summary
The synthetic pesticide chlorpyrifos was the most effective in reducing fall armyworm foliar damage on screenhouse maize.
- Treatment
- synthetic pesticide chlorpyrifose5
- Interactor
- fall armyworm
Spodoptera frugiperdae5pest - Outcome
- fall armyworm foliar damagee5
- Direction
- most effective in reducinge5
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
e4“In a screenhouse experiment where living maize plants infested with fall armyworm larvae were treated with plant extracts, N. tabacum and L. javanica were the most potent species at reducing foliar damage compared to the untreated control”
e5“whilst the synthetic pesticide chlorpyrifos was the most effective in reducing fall armyworm foliar damage”
Claim · model-written summary
Further field trials of pesticidal plants are recommended on smallholder maize fields to assess effectiveness across a range of contexts.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e7“Further field trial evaluation is recommended, particularly involving smallholder maize fields to assess effectiveness across a range of contexts”
Claim · model-written summary
Contact toxicity and feeding bioassays showed differential effects of plant species on larvae.
Verbatim
e6“In order to optimize the use of botanical extracts for FAW control, we initially screened ten commonly used plant species. In laboratory trials, contact toxicity and feeding bioassays showed differential effects. Some plant species had little to no effect when compared to untreated controls”
Claim · model-written summary
Some plant species had little to no effect against fall armyworm compared with untreated controls.
Verbatim
e6“In order to optimize the use of botanical extracts for FAW control, we initially screened ten commonly used plant species. In laboratory trials, contact toxicity and feeding bioassays showed differential effects. Some plant species had little to no effect when compared to untreated controls”
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See all 53 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.