Can Sweet Maize Serve as a Lure for <em>Spodoptera frugiperda </em>(J.E. Smith)?

Among various host plants, Spodoptera frugiperda primarily infests corn.Once the long-term regional colonization,if the larvae feed on sweet waxy corn and fresh corn for a long time, what is the rhythm of the adults? Can sweet corn using the rhythm serve as a functional plant? There are no reports on this at present. To aid in the development of effective prevention and control measures, Zhengdan 958 and Zhenghuangnuo were utilized as representatives of normal and sweet waxy corn in laboratory. S. frugiperda was fed these two types of corn leaves over nine generations, establishing a lineage of S. frugiperda associated with both corn strains, with a strain fed an artificial diet serving as the control. A comparative analysis of the emergence, movement, nutritional foraging, resting, mating, and oviposition behaviors of S. frugiperda adults among different groups revealed that there were distinct emergence peaks for each strain. The emergence peaks for the Zhengdan 958 population, Zhenghuangnuo population, and artificial diet population were observed at 0:00–1:00, 22:00–23:00, and 0:00–1:00, respectively, with females emerging earlier than males in all three strains. Most movement, nutritional foraging, mating, and oviposition activities occurred during the dark phase, while resting behavior was predominantly observed in the light phase. The Zhengdan 958 and Zhenghuangnuo strains exhibited two mating peaks, occurring at 20:00–21:00 and 2:00–3:00 for the Zhengdan 958 population, and at 18:00–19:00 and 2:00–3:00 for the Zhenghuangnuo population. However, the artificial diet population demonstrated a single prominent peak (0:00–1:00). In terms of oviposition, the Zhengdan 958 population had three peaks (21:00–22:00, 0:00–1:00, and 2:00–3:00), while the Zhenghuangnuo population presented two peaks (21:00–22:00 and 1:00–2:00), and the artificial diet population exhibited two peaks (19:00–20:00 and 22:00–23:00). RT-qPCR analyses indicated significant differences in the expression levels of four circadian clock genes across various populations and tissues of S. frugiperda. Feeding on different host plants influenced the expression of circadian clock genes and their associated behavioral rhythms,our study showed that sweet corn is more conducive to pupation, mating, and egg-laying and could serve as one of functional plants for S. frugiperda in Huang-Huai-Hai corn planting area.