The fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith), is a significant invasive pest identified as a serious threat to global agricultural production and food security. However, its ovipositional preference, larval feeding selectivity, and nutritional indices are less studied. Here, we investigated these traits of FAW when fed on maize, wheat, soybean, tomato, cotton, and Chinese cabbage, and analyzed the correlation between its nutritional indices and the nutritional contents of crops. The results showed that the highest number of eggs were laid on maize and the lowest number were laid on tomato. The highest feeding choice rate of third instar larvae was on maize, and the lowest was on Chinese cabbage. The fifth instar larvae showed the highest feeding choice rate on maize, but no significant differences were found among other crop species. The food consumption (FC), the relative growth rate (RGR), and the approximate digestibility (AD) were significantly higher on maize and wheat, while the efficiency of conversion of ingested food (ECI) and the efficiency of conversion of digested food (ECD) were significantly higher when fed on cotton and Chinese cabbage. The FC, the relative consumption rate (RCR), RGR, and AD were significantly and positively correlated with soluble sugar and protein contents of host plants, while the ECI and ECD were significantly and negatively correlated with the soluble sugar content. The present study indicates that FAW may cause potential economic losses to these crops besides maize, and these findings are valuable in managing and controlling this pest.

Graphical Abstract