Abstract
The present study was conducted in 2020 at Bhattadev University, Bajali, Assam, India to evaluate the effects of castor, Ricinus communis L. and an alternative host plant, Ficus benghalensis L., on the morpho-economic traits of the Eri silkworm, Samia ricini Donovan and to identify the suitable host plant. During this study, all the larval, cocoon parameters were recorded and all the data were statistically analysed by using student t- test at p < 0.05 level in SPSS software (version 26). The result of the present study reveals that commercial characteristics such as mature larval weight (g), Cocoon weight(g), pupal weight (g), shell weight(g), shell ratio%, ERR% was found to be highest in Castor (8.74 ± 0.39 g, 3.45 ± 0.12 g, 2.89 ± 0.12 g, 0.52 ± 0.01 g, 15.43 ± 0.80%, 76%) than banyan (6.28 ± 0.11 g, 1.95 ± 0.03 g, 1.69 ± 0.03 g, 0.24 ± 0.01 g, 12.57 ± 0.77%, 60%). Significant differences at 5% level were recorded concerning the Larval duration (days), Larval weight(g), pupal weight(g), cocoon weight(g), shell weight(g), shell ratio %. Thus the present study reveals that erisilkworm reared on the leaves of castor showed superiority than banyan. But castor plant is not available throughout the year and, as we found in this study, erisilkworm can be successfully reared on banyan leaves, so considering the rearing performance of the Eri silkworm on banyan leaves future investigation can be carried out to identify the best secondary food plant for the erisilkworm among banyan, barkessuru, papaya, and other secondary host plants of Eri silkworm.
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Acknowledgements
We are all grateful to the Department of Zoology at Bhattdev University, Bajali, Assam, India for providing the lab facility and all the laboratory members for their support during the research work. The authors also thank the Central Muga Eri Research and Training Institute (CMER&TI), Lahdoigarh-785700, Jorhat, Assam, Central Silk Board: Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India, for providing silkworm eggs for this work.
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The authors did not receive support from any organization for the submitted work. No funding was received to assist with the preparation of this manuscript. No funding was received for conducting this study. No funds, grants, or other support were received.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and experimental design. Material preparation and data collection were undertaken by Tamal Das. The experimental Technique was advised by Dipika Kalita. Data analysis was performed by Tamal Das and Manika Das. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Tamal Das and all authors commented on the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
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Das, T., Kalita, D. & Das, M. Effect of castor, Ricinus communis L. and banyan, Ficus benghalensis L. plants on economic traits of eri silkworm, Samia ricini Donovan (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae). Int J Trop Insect Sci 43, 217–224 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42690-022-00919-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42690-022-00919-y