Comparative study on the Rearing performance of muga silkworm (Antheraea assamensis Helfer) on two primary host plants Som (Persea bombycina Kost) and Soalu (Litsea monopetala Roxb) in different rearing seasons

摘要

Muga, (Antherea assamensis, Helfer) is a polyphagous multivoltine insect. (Chakravorty et al., 2004) Due to outdoor rearing the muga larvae are subject to different biotic factors and abiotic stress. The seasonal differences in the environmental components considerably affect the genotypic expression in the form phenotypic output of silkworm such as cocoon weight, pupal weight, shell weight and shell ratio. An attempt has been made on two primary host plants viz. Som and Soalu to investigate their comparative performance on rearing in study area on different rearing seasons. Results indicated highest Shell weight and Shell Ratio(SR ) when fed on Som plant (T1) where as Larval weight, Pupal weight is highest when fed on Soalu (T2) plant and the results also reveals lowest performance in Soalu to Som fed batch (T3). This study also reveals that Kotia (V1) season showing best rearing performance followed by Jethua (V2), Bhodia (V3) and Chotua (V4). This study was conducted continually three years in the same area and showing same trend. T-1 and V1 showed the best commercial characters of Antherea assamensis, Helfer when silkworm larvae were feed with Som leaves. Therefore, it is suggested that Som leaves can be used in rearing for higher yield of muga silk. If there is a shortage of Som leaves during commercial rearing, then Chawki rearing can be done in Soalu plants and then transferred to Som plant for late age rearing.