Dynamics of gut microflora across the life cycle of Spodoptera frugiperda and its effects on the feeding and growth of larvae

BACKGROUND Spodoptera frugiperda is an important invasive agricultural pest that causes huge economic losses worldwide. Gut microorganisms play a vital role in host feeding, digestion, nutrition, immunity, growth and insecticide resistance. Illumina high‐throughput sequencing was used to study the gut microbial community dynamics across the life cycle (egg, 1st to 6th instar larvae, pupae, and male and female adults) of S. frugiperda fed on maize leaves. Furthermore, the gut microbial community and food intake of the 5th instar S. frugiperda larvae were studied after feeding them antibiotics. RESULTS Enterobacteriaceae and Enterococcaceae dominated the gut during growth and feeding of the larvae. The relative abundance of Enterobacteriaceae was higher in the 4th and 6th instar larvae. With the increase in larval feeding, the relative abundance of Enterococcaceae gradually increased. In addition, principal coordinate analysis and linear discriminant effect size analysis confirmed differences in the structure of gut microbiota at different developmental stages. After antibiotic treatment, the relative abundance of Firmicutes, Proteobacteria and Fusobacteriota decreased. The relative abundance of Enterococcus and Klebsiella decreased significantly. Antibiotic treatment inhibited the gut flora of S. frugiperda, which decreased larval food intake and body weight gain, and prolonged the larval stage. CONCLUSION The composition of the gut bacterial community plays an important role in the growth, development, and feeding of S. frugiperda. The results have a certain theoretical value for the development of bio‐pesticides targeting intestinal flora. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry. Dynamics of gut microflora across the life cycle of Spodoptera frugiperda. Antibiotic alter the gut flora, result the decrease of larval food intake and body weight gain, prolonged larval stage.