The fall armyworm is an important agricultural pest that feeds on leaves, stems and reproductive parts of more than 350 plant species, including maize, rice, sorghum, sugarcane, wheat, cotton and many vegetables. It has two host-plant strains: C-strain (corn strain), which feeds primarily on maize, cotton and sorghum; and the R-strain (rice-strain), which is more associated with rice and pasture grasses. The species has a high invasion potential due to short generation time, high fecundity (~1000 eggs per female), long distance dissemination, resistance to control methods and polyphagous abilities. At 28℃, the generation time is between 30 to 40 days (roughly 55 days at cooler temperatures) and thus can produce several generations per season. Resistance to chemical insecticides, Bt toxins and viral biocontrol have been reported.

Spodoptera frugiperda has a genome of about 390 megabases with 32 chromosomes. It is estimated that there are 22,260 proteins.

Cell line Sf9 is a commonly used platform for studying recombinant proteins using Baculovirus-expression platforms. The cells were originally established from ovarian tissues and support high-levels of protein expression.