S.
exigua (Hübner) and
H.
armigera (Hübner) belong to the Noctuidae family of the Lepidoptera order. They damage both in the open field and in the greenhouse
(Han et al., 2014, Kumar et al., 2020).
S.
exigua (Hübner) is an omnivorous pest
(Guerrero et al., 2014, Chena et al., 2019, Hafeez et al., 2021, Rajesh
Chowdary et al., 2024). Due to its global distribution and omnivorous behavior, this pest causes significant economic losses in crop production worldwide
(Hafeez et al., 2021), causing yield reduction.
S.
exigua (Hübner) damages the leaves and fruits of many crops
(Rabelo et al., 2022), including vegetables, field crops, ornamental plants (
Pogue, 2002,
Capinera, 2024). They prefer leguminous plants as well as the plants of family Solanaceae, Poaceae, Malvaceae
(Artokhin et al., 2017), Liliaceae, Rubiaceae, Umbellíferae, Asteráceae
(Shankar et al., 2014, Mehta et al., 2021).
Damages more than 185 species of plants belonging to 50 families (
Kuznetsov, 1999) including 133 species of cultivated plants. In North America alone, it damages more than 90 species of plants in 18 families
(Greenberg et al., 2001, Navasero et al., 2019) . They feed on crops such as tomato, corn,
(Zhang et al., 2021), broccoli, peanut, melon (
Dalip, 2014), chickpea, maize, sunflower, spinach (
Rajesh Chowdary et al., 2024), cabbage, alfalfa
(Shankar et al., 2014), pepper (
Terlemezyan and Ghazaryan, 2023), eggplant
(Mehrkhou et al., 2015), onion
(Navasero et al., 2019), tobacco, cotton
(Hafeez et al., 2021), potato
(Kumar et al., 2020), etc. Larvae also feed on a number of weeds during their development (
Capinera, 2024).
S.
exigua (Hübner) damages plants in the larval stage
(Greenberg et al., 2001, Kumar et al., 2020, You et al., 2020, Rajesh Chowdary et al., 2024). Young larvae feed in groups
(Simon et al., 2021). The caterpillars feed mainly on the reverse side of the leaves, leaving behind small silk webs. They feed in such a way that the leaves become skeletonized, all the tissues of the leaves are destroyed, only the leaf veins remain, which preserve the shape of the leaf. Sometimes the larvae connect several leaves together with a silk thread to make a temporary cocoon, in which they can feed safely (
Capinera, 2006,
Natwick et al., 2012).
When feeding on fruits
S.
exigua (Hübner) larvae leave not deep wounds on the surface (
Showler 2001,
Natwick et al., 2012). Sometimes
S.
exigua (Hübner) larvae even eat each other, especially when food supplies are scarce
(Hua et al., 2013).
Their feeding and behavior are directly or indirectly dependent on temperature fluctuations
(Rathore et al., 2013).
H.
armigera (Hübner) is an omnivorous pest
(Kriticos et al., 2015). It is one of the most dangerous pests of agricultural crops in the world (
Karim, 2000,
Krinski and Godoy, 2015), causing a global economic loss of 2-3 billion USD annually
(Tay et al., 2013, Riaz et al., 2021).
H.
armigera (Hübner) damages 68 plant families (
Cunningham and Zalucki, 2014). According to
Tai et al., (2013), the
H.
armigera (Hübner) damages more than 180 plant species belonging to 45 families; according to
Krinsky and Godoy (2015) - 67 plant families; according to
Kuznetsov (1999) damages more than 350 species of plants.
The main damage is caused by larvae
(Artokhin et al., 2017, Suzana-Milan et al., 2022, Trujillo et al., 2024), which feed on vegetative parts of plants: upper parts of shoots, leaves of different heights
(Salvadori et al., 2013) and with generative organs: buds, inflorescences, fruits, pods
(Suzana-Milan et al., 2022).
Insect damage has been reported on both cultivated and uncultivated plants
(Salvadori et al., 2013), which belonged to Solanaceae, Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Malvaceae and Poaceae families (
Krinski and Godoy, 2015). It also causes economic damage to agricultural crops such as corn, tomato, legumes, tobacco, sorghum, fruit trees (
Lammers and MacLeod, 2007,
Specht et al., 2013), pumpkin, zucchini, alfalfa
(Artokhin et al., 2017), pigeon pea (
Pandey 2016;
Amit et al., 2022), pepper (
Ghazaryan, 2023), as well as flowers: Carnation, Gerbera, Gladiolus, Chrysanthemum (
Pal and Sarkar, 2009), Rosa (
Eswara Reddy et al., 2021), Pelargonium (
Lammers and MacLeod, 2007). They also damage some types of weeds (
CABI, 2007).
H.
armigera (Hübner) causes serious economic damage, especially in open field conditions. In 2003, this type was a serious pest of pepper in the Metaponto region of Italy, with reported plant damage of 30% fruit and 70–80% (
Lammers and MacLeod, 2007). Second and third instar larvae can cause cotton yield losses of up to 65% (
Ting, 1986). Chickpea crop loss is 20-90%
(Tripathi et al., 2023). In South Asia, East Africa and Latin America, it is the only pest that causes the loss of pea crops to 100%, which is about 300 million dollars annually
(Thomas et al., 1997).
In recent years, a significant increase in the damage to the leaves and fruits of pepper caused by
H.
armigera (Hübner) and
S.
exigua (Hübner) has been observed in Armenia. Almost all varieties cultivated in the country are damaged. Global climate change, incorrect timing of control measures and wrongly applied preparations have greatly contributed to the rapid development of pests.
The aim of the research is to study the degree of harmfulness of
H.
armigera (Hübner) and
S.
exigua (Hübner) on different varieties of pepper, the nature of the damage they cause.
As a result of the research, we will also record the varieties that are most damaged by
H.
armigera (Hübner) and
S.
exigua (Hübner) and as well as the more resistant ones, which in turn will contribute to the correct organization of further work.
