Behavioural ecology of the African armywonn, Spodoptera exempta (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae); evidence of successive generations from Kenya

Abstract

AbstractSpodoptera exempta (Wlk.) is predominantly a migrant species, but in southern Africa it is known that it can breed through several successive generations in one area. Similar observations were made for the first time in East Africa. Studies on populations in the Lambwe Valley in western Kenya revealed that during two years when the populations were monitored and one year when information was available from local farmers there were three generations each year during the period corresponding with the long rainy season. It is suggested that the Lambwe Valley presents a suitable habitat for the species to sustain its population and probably forms a breeding area for moths that might undergo large-scale migration.