From the report «Integration of egg parasitoids and entomopathogens for the management of fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda on maize in Ghana«, of Frimpong-Anin, K., Amoabeng, B. W., Asamoah, J. F., Danso, Y., Ohene-Mensah, G., Awarikabey, E. N., Appiah, D. A., Antwi, D., Kwodane, M., Abugri, B., Gyamfi, M., published at Academia Biology, 4 (2026).
The study evaluates the combined use of the egg parasitoid Telenomus remus with two native entomopathogens, Beauveria bassiana and Metarhabditis rainai, across two ecological zones in Ghana, assessing parasitism, larval mortality, crop damage and yield for the management of fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda on maize.
The results show that egg parasitism rates were similar across treatments, indicating that neither B. bassiana nor M. rainai interfered with the activity of T. remus. However, larval mortality increased dramatically when entomopathogens were added, rising from about 4–8% under sole T. remus to 75–88% in combined treatments. Leaf damage followed the same pattern: the highest levels occurred in plots treated only with the parasitoid, while the lowest were recorded in the triple combination. Cob damage remained uniformly low across treatments, suggesting that early suppression of larvae was sufficient to protect ears. Ecological zone influenced parasitism, incidence and yield, with Ejura generally performing better than Kwadaso.
The discussion highlights that the compatibility between parasitoids and entomopathogens aligns with previous studies, and that both B. bassiana and M. rainai effectively complement T. remus by killing larvae that escape parasitism. Combining both entomopathogens did not provide additional benefits over using either one alone. Differences between locations were attributed to weather patterns and landscape structure, which affected FAW pressure and parasitoid establishment. Overall, integrating T. remus with either entomopathogen offers a viable IPM strategy for reducing FAW damage and improving maize yield in Ghana.