WORM ARMY-GEDDON?Īs well as damaging food crops, the fall armyworm could cause environmental damage in Australia.Ĭurrently, farmers rely on insecticides to manage the pest. Under optimal conditions, they’re able to fly over 160km.Īs a result, with the help of seasonal winds, the moths can readily invade new habitats. This is on top of the worms’ natural invasion methods, which may include aerial strikes from nearby countries.įall armyworms are strong flyers. How? Without rigorous plant health practices, pests can stow away in agricultural cargo on ships and planes. In other words, fall armyworms may be hitching rides on international trade routes. Rather, the genomic signatures were better explained by multiple independent introductions,” says Tek. “ didn’t fit the genome pattern of a single introduction into West Africa and the subsequent spread towards Asia and Oceania. However, the data showed enough genetic differences within populations to suggest that the fall armyworms had originated from multiple places. “People were assuming it somehow got to West Africa and then … spread really rapidly,” says Tek. GLOBAL WORMINGįindings from the latest research challenged current theories about how the fall armyworm is spreading.

He’s recently co-authored three different genomic studies to better understand the fall armyworm’s movements. Around March 2020, the species was detected in the Northern Territory and Western Australia.ĭr Tek Tay is a principal research scientist at the CSIRO. A few weeks later, they were found in Queensland. Since then, it has invaded more than 70 countries, including Australia.Īustralian scientists first detected the species on two Torres Strait Islands in January 2020. Native to tropical regions of the Americas, the fall armyworm was first reported in West Africa in 2016. After devouring whole crop fields, the species is said to ‘march’ out looking for more. Its common name comes from mass movements of the caterpillars during autumn. Spodoptera frugiperda, commonly known as the fall armyworm, is a moth species whose larvae wreak havoc on a wide range of plants, including crops.

Download army worms caterpillars