열대 및 아열대 아메리카 지역이 원산지인 열대거세미나방(신칭; Spodoptera frugiperda (Smith, 1797))은 최근 전세계적에서 돌발적으로 문제가 되고 있는 농업 해충이다. 높은 비행능력을 가진 열대거세미나방은 2016년 아프리카를 시작으로 2018년 인도, 2019년 동남아시아에서 발견되어 확산 속도가 매우 빠르다. 한국에서 열대거세나방은 2019년 6월 13일 제주도 옥수수 재배 농가포장에서 처음 발견되었고, 그 후 2019년 7월 초까지 전라도, 경상남도의 여러 시/군에서 추가로 발견되었다. 한국에서 최초 침입집단을 미토콘드리아 COI유전자를 이용하여 열대거세미나방임을 유전적으로 동정하였고, 서로 다른 분기군에 속하는 2개의 haplotypes(hap-1, hap-2)으로 구성됨을 확인하였다. 분석된31개의 COI 염기서열 중 hap-1 이 93.5%로 우점하였다.

The fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda J.E. Smith is a noctuid moth endemic throughout the Western Hemisphere that has recently become widespread in sub-Saharan Africa. In Asia, FAW was firstly reported at corn fields in India, SriLanka, Bangladeshi, Miyanmar and Thailand in 2018. In January 2019, FAW was also found in Yunnan province of China. In March 2019, the larvae which could be tentatively identified as FAW were caught at a corn field of Plant Protection Center of Lao PDR, which is located in Vientiane, Laos. Species identification was confirmed by DNA barcoding using the COⅠ segment of the four larvae, which were found to be the haplotype of rice strain (COⅠ-RS). The host strain identity was additionally analysed as a Tpi-C (C-strain allele) by Triosephosphate isomerase gene (Tpi) segment located on the Z sex chromosome. The result shows that the FAW specimens in Lao is the subpopulation of COⅠ-RS/Tpi-C (COⅠ and Tpi haplotype combination). It was reported that COⅠ-CS/Tpi-C were more frequently observed than COⅠ-RS/Tpi-C in Western Hemisphere and Western Africa, but COⅠ-RS/Tpi-C were more frequently observed in Eastern Africa. It can be supposed that the subpopulation of COⅠ-RS/Tpi-C in Lao is one of the subpopulations which have migrated into the Indochinese peninsula from Eastern Africa, with more detailed analysis for more diverse nationwide specimens left.