DOI: 10.5061/dryad.rjdfn2zks
title: The potential of using different legume species in a push-pull approach to manage Spodoptera frugiperda in maize in China

description: Fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (Smith), a notorious
 pest native to the tropical and subtropical Americas, has recently invaded
 China, causing substantial damage to crops, particularly maize. The
 push-pull strategy has been reported to be an effective prevention measure
 for FAW in Africa, with maize-soybean intercropping significantly reducing
 FAW infestation. To assess the potential of legume hosts as “push” or
 “pull” plants to control FAW in maize, we employed life-table analysis and
 indoor cage tests to investigate the offspring performance, feeding and
 oviposition preference of FAW on five selected legume species, namely,
 mung bean (Vigna radiata L.), soybean (Glycine max L.),
 kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), red bean (Vigna
 angularis Willd.), and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.
 Walp), with maize (Zea mays L.) as a control. Mung bean and
 cowpea were subsequently selected as repellent and attractant plants,
 respectively, to study FAW infestation levels in maize in the field. The
 results showed that maize was the most suitable host plant for FAW, as
 indicated by its shortest developmental duration and highest pupal weight.
 However, among all the tested legume species, cowpea was the best host for
 FAW, with shorter larval, preadult, and adult durations than on the leaves
 of the other legumes. Moreover, the feeding and oviposition preference
 tests revealed that FAW had a strong preference for maize and cowpea, but
 strongly rejected mung bean. Compared with that in the maize monoculture
 group, the total number of eggs laid in the maize–mung group decreased by
 67.25%, and that in the maize–cowpea group significantly increased by
 2.04-fold in greenhouse tests. In the randomized block field experiment,
 the infestation of maize by FAW in the mung bean–cowpea system was
 significantly lower than that in the maize monoculture or in the system
 with maize surrounded only by cowpea. This study indicated that mung bean
 and cowpea are promising candidates as repellent plants (push) and
 attractant plants (pull), respectively, for intercropping with maize to
 reduce the damage caused by FAW.
description: # The potential of using different legume species in a push-pull approach
 to manage *Spodoptera frugiperda* in maize in China
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.rjdfn2zks](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.rjdfn2zks) ## Description of the data and file structure Excel file containing the data of the publication: The potential of using different legume species in a push-pull approach to manage *Spodoptera frugiperda* in maize in China. * Table 1-3. contains: Developmental duration, Survival rate, Pupal weight, Adult pre-oviposition period (APOP), Total pre-oviposition period (TPOP), Fecundity, Oviposition period, Intrinsic rate of increase (*r* ), Finite rate of increase (λ), Net reproductive rate (*R*0) and Mean generation time (*T*) of *Spodoptera frugiperda* reared on maize, mung bean, soybean, kidney bean, red bean, and cowpea. * Table 4-5. contains: Fecundity of *Spodoptera frugiperda* in the choice treatment and no-choice treatments. * Fig 2-4. contains: Age-stage-specific survival rate (*Sxj*), Age-stage life expectancy (*exj*), and Feeding preference of *Spodoptera frugiperda* reared on the six host plants. * Fig 5. contains: The oviposition selection of *Spodoptera frugiperda* to five maize-legume intercropping groups. In more detail, in Table 1-3: * number: Sample number * sex: the sex of *Spodoptera frugiperda* * SD: standard deviation * SE: standard error Fig 2-4: * Age: The age (days) from the egg of *Spodoptera frugiperda*