A comparative study on morphology and rearing performance of Samia ricini and Samia canningi crossbreed with reference to different food plants
Dulur Brahma, Ananta Swargiary, Karabi Dutta
Samia ricini is a non-mulberry, multivoltine, domestic moth, reared indoor. S. canningi is wild, bivoltine silkworm. Both the varieties are found in North-eastern states of India. Castor (Ricinus communis; Euphorbiaceae) and payam (Evodia fraxinifolia; Rutaceae) are the host plants of S. ricini and S. canningi, respectively. S. ricini is susceptible to unhygenic and poor environmental conditions. The present study was designed to produce a crossbreed between S. ricini and S. canningi and to study the differences in morphological and economic parameters between the parents and crossbreed. Experimental results have shown that the rearing and economic performance of crossbreed showed superior quality compared to parental species. However, crossbreed showed better result in payamrnleaves. The present study therefore suggest that the S. ricini x S. canningi crossbreed can be commercialized which may be highly productive to sericulture industry. However, further study regarding the productivity and food plants need to established.
Dulur Brahma, Ananta Swargiary, Karabi Dutta. A comparative study on morphology and rearing performance of Samia ricini and Samia canningi crossbreed with reference to different food plants. J Entomol Zool Stud 2015;3(5):12-19.