A single semi‐synthetic diet with improved antimicrobial activity for mass rearing of lepidopteran insect pests of cotton and maize. Issue 4 (3rd April 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Nair, Rupa V.; Kulye, Mahesh Sakharam; Kamath, Subray P.
• Is Part Of: Entomologia experimentalis et applicata. Volume 167:Issue 4(2019)
• Page Start: 377
• Page End: 387
• Publication Date: 2019-04-03
• Subjects: diet bioassay -- Helicoverpa armigera -- Earias vittella -- Spodoptera litura -- Pectinophora gossypiella -- Spodoptera exigua -- Chilo partellus -- diet antimicrobial agent -- Lepidoptera -- Noctuidae -- Gelechiidae -- Crambidae; Entomology -- Periodicals; 595.7
• DOI: 10.1111/eea.12779
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0013-8703

Abstract

Abstract: Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner), Earias vittella (Fabricius), Spodoptera litura (Fabricius), Spodoptera exigua (Hübner) (all Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), and Chilo partellus (Swinhoe) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) are the major pests of cotton and maize. Mass‐rearing of these insects under controlled conditions is necessary to obtain the numbers needed to conduct bioassays to screen insecticides, proteins, and other compounds, as tools for insect pest management. We present a diet suitable for rearing the six lepidopteran pests (five cotton and one maize pest). We further show that this diet is on par with or superior to the published diet recipes for each of the insect species, which were studied for three generations. We also discuss the advantages of antimicrobials other than formalin for keeping microbial growth under check. A combination of antimicrobial solution and benomyl provided effective control and suppressed the growth of microbes for a longer period than a formalin‐containing diet. A common diet for six pests provide opportunities for automation of diet preparation in addition to improved throughput and consistency in the process, while eliminating diet‐batch related errors. Abstract : This work aims to standardize a single diet with improved antimicrobial activity which could be used for mass rearing of the six moth species Helicoverpa armigera, Earias vittella, Spodoptera litura, S. exigua, Pectinophora gossypiella, and Chilo partellus (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae, Gelechiidae, Crambidae), pests of cotton and maize. The study proposes uniformed diet recipes for collaborative work and provides opportunities for automating diet preparation for rearing of six insects with reduced error.