Commercial Prospective of Lagerstroemia parviflora (Roxb.) as Choice Food Plant of Tropical Tasar Silkworm, Antheraea mylitta (Drury)

Abstract

The commercial rearing of polyphagous Indian tasar silkworm, Antheraea mylitta Drury being practiced on naturally grown primary food plants like Terminalia tomentosa (Asan), Terminalia arjuna (Arjun) and Shorea robusta (Sal) available in the tropical forests of central India. At times, the non-accessibility to primary food plants made the tasar farmers of Goilkera area of Jharkhand, India to use Lagerstroemia parviflora (locally called as Sidha, the traditionally known alternative food plant) to feed tasar silkworm, which are vastly available in the region. However, its suitability for tasar rearing, impact on the cocoon and silk yields were not studied in comparison with primary food plants, in spite they being vital for tasarculture sustainability. The comparative study on rearing and cocoon quality among L. parviflora and T. tomentosa revealed that the effective rate of rearing (ERR), cocoon and silk yields are low in L. parviflora, while the other commercially important larval, cocoon and shell weights, pupation and silk ratios have shown improvement over T. tomentosa plant. The study indicates the commercial prospective of L. parviflora as alternative food plant for A. mylitta during exigency to supplement the pupation, shell weight and silk ratio, if not the total cocoon and silk yields.