Abstract

RELATIVE IMPACT OF DIFFERENT METHODS OF LARVAL CULTURE ON THE PRODUCTIVITY AND QUALITY OF TASAR SILKWORM, ANTHERAEA MYLITTA D. (SATURNIIDAE: LEPIDOPTERA)

Md. Tahfizur Rahman, S. K. Singh and Sarfaraz Ali*

Abstract

The present paper presents a relative picture in respect of Indoor, Outdoor and food transfer methods of larval culture of indigenous tasar silkworm, Antheraea mylitta D. On the effective rate of rearing (E.R.R.%), cocoon weight, shell weight and shell ratio related to productivity and quality of tasar cocoons of A.mylitta D. The results obtained are indicative of the fact that the different methods of larval culture of tasar silkworm have significant impact on its rearing performances in respect of quantitative and qualitative characters of tasar. The observation reveals that larval culture of tasar silkworm under outdoor conditions on the foliages of its host plant is relatively better than indoor and food transfer methods as far as the productivity and quality of tasar cocoons are concerned. Food transfer method of larval culture from primary to secondary and vice-versa has resulted into relatively inferior rearing performances as compared to outdoor and indoor methods of larval culture of A.mylitta D. The results obtained are probably due to evident differences in the conditions, essentially required for the larval culture of tasar silkworms and it is very much in conformities with the earlier works carried out by sericologists.

Keywords: Tasar silkworm, Antheraea mylitta, sericologists.