African Army Worm is a quite common one. Destructive Migratory insects that damage maize, sorghum, sorghum and sugarcane. It also causes caterpillars. indirect damage Cattle because they destroy grazing lands and pastures.
The last major spread Armyworm in South Africa was from February to April 2025. It affected South Africa’s KwaZulu Natal, Limpopo, Gauteng and Mpumalanga provinces and neighboring Zimbabwe.
Controlling armyworm has proven to be a significant challenge. The commonest method has been the usage of pyrethroid-based synthetics. Chemical pesticides. But this method has been less effective in achieving complete control, because the insecticide is simply effective against larval instars (caterpillars) after they are about 1-5 mm long, as they’re more sensitive to the poison than grown larvae. The insect has a whole metamorphosis consisting of egg, larva (caterpillar), pupa and the adult stage, which is a worm. The caterpillar stage is essentially the most damaging stage.
I’m an entomologist and my work mainly focuses on integrated pest management of economically essential agricultural pests. In particular, it looks at the usage of disease-causing (entomopathogenic) fungi and nematodes as biological control agents of pests in agricultural ecosystems. Recently Paper I based my findings on a fungus that naturally infects and kills larval instars of the African armyworm. This is the primary report of the occurrence and successful isolation of the fungus in South Africa.
African armyworm killer fungus discovered in South Africa
African armyworm outbreaks are characterised mainly by the high density of larval instars of the worm: they form dense armies that move together on the bottom.
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It feeds on plants and may completely strip crop leaves to the bottom. Damage to kikuyu grass pastures also signifies that livestock have less to eat and may develop into in poor health from poisoning. This is because when the larvae feed on grass, the grass releases a cyanochemical compound as a defense mechanism against insects. Cyanide is a compound. poisonous Cattle, mostly cattle.
Clinical signs of kikuyu grass poisoning in infected cattle during an outbreak include abdominal pain, dehydration, excessive salivation, sham drinking – where infected animals are unable to drink despite putting their mouths in water – irregularity (lack of muscle control, leading to unstable and involuntary heartbeats and heart trouble).
When I inspected insect-infested kikuyu grass pastures in KwaZulu Natal, I noticed that something was killing the larval instars of the African armyworm. It turned out to be an isolate of the fungus.
This fungus lives in soil and is one among many entomopathogens that infect and kill quite a lot of insects. They are sometimes utilized in agriculture to administer pests that cause severe damage to crops. Several fungicide-based insecticides are commercially available and have proven effective.
I discovered dead African armyworm larvae covering large areas of the sector, mostly attached to grass blades and a few on the soil surface. He was inspired by it. Infection was visible as white and green conidia, that are asexual spores on the cuticle surface of insects.
This was the primary remark and report of the efficacy of this fungus against African armyworm. First, there was fungus Reported Being an efficient biological control agent of fall armyworm in countries just like the Philippines.
The discovery provides a chance to explore and develop this organism as a possible biological control agent that may be used during outbreak seasons in South Africa and other regions globally.
Mass production of this specific fungal species on a business scale and registration of the fungus as a biopesticide can be the subsequent step. This can increase management strategies that may be effectively used during pest outbreak seasons.