author(s)
G Lokesh, AK Srivastava, AK Sinha, Alok Sahay and Gargi

abstract
The quality and quantity of the silk produced by phytophagous silkworms are invariably influenced by the quality of the food and genetic background of the silkworm. In the present study four F₁ populations of tasar silkworm Antheraea mylitta were prepared and reared on different primary host plants along with its parental populations. Subsequent to harvest of cocoons, cocoon and post cocoon characters were analyzed and compared with different groups. The results indicate that F1 populations recorded significantly (p<0.001) higher values in some of the parameters studied. Amongst the food plants, Terminalia fed silkworm cocoons recorded higher average cocoon weight (12.89 ±1.83) in F₁ cross of Daba and Laria. Shell weight was higher in the Sal fed tasar silkworm cocoons and higher shell weight was in F₁ cross with Sal based ecoraces Laria x Raily (2.12±2.4g). Similarly, the post cocoon characters such as filament length (1097mts.) and other silk quality parameters recorded better values in the Sal fed F1 hybrids compared to the parental populations. The study indicates there is an apparent influence of the host plants as well as the silkworm breed on the quality of the cocoon and subsequent silk quantity and the quality.