STUDIES ON THE IMPACT OF SUBSTRATA ON OVIPOSITIONAL BEHAVIOR OF ERI SILKWORM, SAMIA CYNTHIA RICINI(BOISDUVAL)

摘要

India is the only country which produces all the four types of silk namely mulberry, tasar, eri and muga. Ericulture which was once confined to the northeastern states has now started spreading across the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. A-proper infrastructure for silkworm seed production is the basic pre-requisite for the development of industry in the country. Oviposition and egg recovery are known to be influenced by various factors. in spite of the work carried out by various workers, still there is dearth of information on the suitable substrata for oviposition of the eri silk moth. Hence, an attempt was made in the present investigation to study the impact of different substrata viz., nylon bag, bamboo strips, plastic rope, coir rope, and mulberry twigs along with kharika as control and it was found bamboo strips to be the most suitable substrata for maximum egg recovery.