Abstract: 【Aim】 The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, is a newly invaded important pest in China. This study aims to comparatively analyze the transcriptomes of two developmental stages, male adult and the 5th instar larva, of S. frugiperda. 【Methods】 High-throughput sequencing technology was used to sequence and assembly the transcriptomes of male adult and the 5th instar larva of S. frugiperda, and the functional annotation and comparative analysis of transcriptome data were performed. 【Results】 After a de novo assembly, a total of 209 002 transcripts were obtained, with an average length of 687.55 bp and an N50 of 982 bp. A total of 46 198 (57.43%) unigenes were annotated in at least one database, among which 1 713 (2.13%) unigenes were annotated in all databases. In the GO database, 205 269 unigene annotations were obtained, mainly including 68 functional classifications. A total of 3 408 unigenes were annotated in KEGG database, involving 277 metabolic pathways. A total of 424 olfaction-related genes were identified and showed differential expression in male adults and the 5th instar larvae of S. frugiperda. By comparative transcriptome analysis, 9 162 up-regulated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 6 399 down-regulated DEGs were identified in male adult. Functional enrichment analysis revealed that the up-regulated DEGs were significantly enriched in the pathways involved in pheromone and signal transduction, while the down-regulated DEGs were significantly enriched in the pathways related to detoxification. 【Conclusion】 These transcriptome data provide some valuable information for exploring the functional genes related to the growth and development and olfaction and candidate molecular targets in S. frugiperda.

Key words: Spodoptera frugiperda, developmental stage, olfactory gene, transcriptome, gene annotation, bioinformatics