Spodoptera frugiperda is a highly polyphagous and invasive agricultural pest that can harm more than 300 plants and cause huge economic losses to crops. Symbiotic bacteria play an important role in the host biology and ecology of herbivores, and have a wide range of effects on host growth and adaptation. In this study, high-throughput sequencing technology was used to investigate the effects of different hosts (corn, wild oat, oilseed rape, pepper, and artificial diet) on gut microbial community structure and diversity. Corn is one of the most favored plants of S. frugiperda. We compared the gut microbiota on corn with and without a seed coating agent. The results showed that Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes dominated the gut microbial community. The microbial abundance on oilseed rape was the highest, the microbial diversity on wild oat was the lowest, and the microbial diversity on corn without a seed coating agent was significantly higher than that with such an agent. PCoA analysis showed that there were significant differences in the gut microbial community among different hosts. PICRUSt analysis showed that most of the functional prediction categories were related to metabolic and cellular processes. The results showed that the gut microbial community of S. frugiperda was affected not only by the host species, but also by different host treatments, which played an important role in host adaptation. It is important to deepen our understanding of the symbiotic relationships between invasive organisms and microorganisms. The study of the adaptability of host insects contributes to the development of more effective and environmentally friendly pest management strategies.

Intestinal symbiotic bacteria have played an important role in the digestion, immunity detoxification, mating, and reproduction of insects during long-term coevolution. The oriental fruit moth, Grapholita molesta, is an important fruit tree pest worldwide. However, the composition of the G. molesta microbial community, especially of the gut microbiome, remains unclear. To explore the differences of gut microbiota of G. molesta when reared on different host plants, we determined the gut bacterial structure when G. molesta was transferred from an artificial diet to different host plants (apples, peaches, nectarines, crisp pears, plums, peach shoots) by amplicon sequencing technology. The results showed that Proteobacteria and Firmicutes are dominant in the gut microbiota of G. molesta. Plum-feeding G. molesta had the highest richness and diversity of gut microbiota, while apple-feeding G. molesta had the lowest. PCoA and PERMANOVA analysis revealed that there were significant differences in the gut microbiota structure of G. molesta on different diets. PICRUSt2 analysis indicated that most of the functional prediction pathways were concentrated in metabolic and cellular processes. Our results confirmed that gut bacterial communities of G. molesta can be influenced by host diets and may play an important role in host adaptation.

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