Evaluation of Artificial Diets for <I>Attacus atlas</I> (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) in Yogyakarta Special Region, Indonesia

Abstract

The objective of this research was to evaluate artificial diets that can be used to successfully culture the atlas silk moth, Attacus atlas L. (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) indoors. Four plant species were evaluated as the basic component of each diet, barringtonia (Barringtonia asiatica), cheesewood (Nauclea orientalis), soursop (Annona muricata), and mahogany (Swietenia mahagoni). Evaluation of the nutritional value of each diet was determined by an analysis of the hemolymph proteins of sixth instars using the Folin-Ciocalteu assay. Survivorship, cocoon quality, and hemolymph protein content of larvae fed the barringtonia diet were higher than those of larvae fed mahogany-, cheesewood-, and soursop-based artificial diets. The average adult emergence of those fed the barringtonia-based diet was 74.5%. The weights of the cocoon in this treatment with the pupa and the empty cocoons were 7.0 and 1.1 g, respectively. Hemolymph of the larvae fed the barringtonia-based artificial diet had the highest concentration of protein with an average of 28.06 mg/ml. The atlas moth reared on the barringtonia-based artificial diet was comparable with those reared only on barringtonia leaves. However, the weight of empty cocoons, adult wingspan, and amount of hemolymph protein were lower than in those reared on barringtonia leaves only. This may suggest that the artificial barringtonia-based diet requires additional protein for maximum efficiency.

Secondary Metabolite Profiling of Four Host Plants Leaves of Wild Silk Moth Attacus atlas L.

“…Keben leaves contained the lowest total alkaloid compared with the other three host plant leaves (Figure 4). This may confirm the accumulated studies reported that A. atlas reared in keben leaves had a better survivorship compared to other (Sukirno et al, 2013). Interestingly, keben also contained the highest concentration of tannin followed by gempol, dadap, and soursop with comparable concentration.…”

A simple artificial diet for feeding and sequestration assays for the milkweed bugsOncopeltus fasciatusandSpilostethus saxatilis

“…Despite the advantages mentioned above, insects typically show reduced performance when reared on artificial diets. This issue is reflected by impaired growth, including reduced weight gain (Wang et al, 2013; Montoro et al, 2020), a longer time to reach adulthood (Pourkhatoon et al, 2016; Bajonero & Parra, 2017), smaller adult size (Sukirno et al, 2013; Mendoza et al, 2016), and wing deformities (Hervet et al, 2016). A limited performance is also reflected by reproduction problems, such as lower egg production and egg hatching (Jones et al, 1986; Fortes et al, 2006), higher mortality (Pourkhatoon et al, 2016; Bajonero & Parra, 2017), shorter life span (Wang et al, 2013; Hayashida et al, 2018), and lower hemolymph protein levels as an indicator of dietary quality (Sukirno et al, 2013).…”