Spodoptera Armyworms in Florida

The armyworms of the genus Spodoptera include 10 species in North America. All are found in Florida except for Spodoptera praefica (Grote) which only occurs in the far western states (Heppner 1995). Older literature often has the Spodoptera listed under the synonyms Laphygma and Prodenia. The “armyworm” is Pseudaletia unipuncta (Haworth), not in the genus Spodoptera. The Spodoptera armyworms can be very destructive, especially to gardens and field crops. The hostplant range is exceedingly large for the northern species, most having more than 30 recorded hostplants. The strictly Neotropical species are more restricted in hostplant range, and are not known to be of economic importance. However, some Spodoptera species in the Old World tropics, especially in Africa, are serious pests (see Brown and Dewhurst 1975).