Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. SMITH) is one of the main corn crop pest. Neverthless, studies about its biology in the sweet corn crop are scarce. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the genotypes ELISA, BR 400 (sweet corn) and BR PAMPA (field corn) in the reproductive phase of S. frugiperda concerning: pre-oviposition, oviposition and post-reproduction periods; number of ovipositions/female and eggs/oviposition; eggs viability; incubation period; interval between ovipositions and longevity. In laboratory conditions (25 ± 1°C; 70 ±10% RH; 12 hours photophase), 60 larva/genotype were fed with leaves of three genotypes. From the pupae, 15, 20 and 24 couples were formed in ELISA, BR 400 and BR PAMPA, respectively. The number of ovipositions per female and eggs per oviposition was daily registered. Differences between the genotypes ELISA, BR 400 and BR PAMPA, respectively, were not noticed, concerning: pre-oviposition (4.78; 3.94; 3.94 days); oviposition (7.55; 6.5; 6.11 days) and post-reproductive (4.87; 4.64; 5.5 days) periods; number of ovipositions/female (6.33; 5.25; 4.88) and eggs/oviposition (216.72; 215.03; 226.02); eggs viability (59.02; 69.76; 60.81%); interval between ovipositions (0.63; 0.86; 1.0 days); longevity of male (15.22; 13.62; 13.29 days) and female (16.33; 14.06; 15.65 days) with offspring and of the male (19.17; 13.67; 13.86 days) and female (16.43; 8.25; 19.37 days) without offspring. The incubation period of the eggs generated by females whose caterpillars were kept in BR 400 genotype was numerically longer than the others.
fall armyworm; sweet corn; oviposition; fecundity
