Seasonal variation of the foliar constituents of host plants of certain wild silkmoth in Nagaland.

摘要

The Seasonal variations of foliar constituents like moisture, total carbohydrate, soluble and reducing sugar, crude fibre, total nitrogen, crude protein and total ash of eight host plants namely, Rhus javanica, Alnus nepalensis, Persea bombycina, Litsaea citrata, Heteropanax fragrans, Evodia flaxinifolia, Terminalia myriocarpa and Quercus acutissima utilized for rearing of six wild silk moth species in Nagaland were investigated according to their rearing seasons. The highest quantity of moisture percentage, total carbohydrate, total soluble sugar and crude fibre were recorded during summer in Heteropanax fragrans while reducing sugar was found to be maximum in Rhus javanica during autumn season. Total nitrogen and crude protein were recorded maximum during autumn in Quercus acutissima which also retained maximum of total ash in spring season. The comparative studies on seasonal variations on foliar constituents of different species revealed significant differences for moisture, total carbohydrate, soluble sugar, total nitrogen and crude protein whereas difference were insignificant for reducing sugar, crude fibre and total ash. The results suggest an impact of seasonal variation on the nutritive value of leaves and highlight the selective preference of host plants on rearing performance of wild silkworm species in different season.