Performance of Lymantria xylina (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) on Artificial and Host Plant Diets

Abstract

Lymantria xylina Swinhoe (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) is a serious defoliator of hardwood and fruit trees in Taiwan. The larvae of L. xylina feed on >63 species of host plants, belonging to 29 families. Because a large number of larvae are needed for the production of nucleopolyhedrosis virus (NPV) or other related studies, the development of a suitable artificial diet is very important for the mass rearing of this moth in the laboratory. In this study, eight artificial diets, modified from different formulas, and one host plant, Liquidambar formosana Hance, were used to feed L. xylina caterpillars. Through various bioassays (first instar survival trial and long- and short-term feeding trials), the most suitable diet for the L. xylina was selected by performance comparisons with L. formosana. After the first instar survival trial, two of the diets were discarded, because no larva survived on these diets. The results of the long-term feeding trial indicated that the larvae grew successfully on only three kinds of artificial diet. Finally, results of the short-term feeding trial revealed that a diet (diet A), modified from the gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar (L.), formula diet, was the most appropriate for the L. xylina. Larvae fed on diet A had better survival rate, pupal weight, adult size, efficiency of conversion, and relative growth rate than larvae fed on other diets; they did not grow as well as those fed on L. formosana, however, except for pupal and adult weight, and approximate digestibility. In summary, diet A was found to be the best of the artificial diets for the L. xylina and is suitable for mass rearing of this moth in the laboratory.

Thermal Requirements and Development of <I>Herpetogramma phaeopteralis</I> (Lepidoptera: Crambidae: Spilomelinae)

“…Kerr et al (1955) rials than on artiÞcial diets (Dosdall andUlmer 2004, Shen et al 2006). The diets based on corn starch were not suitable for rearing H. phaeopteralis; similar results were observed in studies with Lymantria xylina (Shen et al 2006). Our Þndings suggest that the soy-wheat germ diet, with the highest protein content, was the most suitable compared with other tested diets, in that some larvae successfully pupated and eclosed.…”

Selection and Suitability of an Artificial Diet forTuta absoluta(Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) Based on Physical and Chemical Characteristics

“…This effect was observed for T. absoluta too, since when it developed in the D3 diet extended the larval period in 10 d compared with the natural diet. T. absoluta experimented an increased larval period (3–4 d) ( Table 2 ) when fed on other artificial diets, which often occurs in insects reared on an artificial medium ( Mendoza et al 2016 , Shen et al 2006 ) and was previously observed by Mihsfeldt and Parra (1999) for T. absoluta , with a larval duration of 19 d in artificial diet. The pupal period of the insects developing on diet D3 was similar to that observed in the natural diet.…”

Age and size at maturity: A quantitative review of diet‐induced reaction norms in insects

“…So far, actually, we are unaware of any exemplary cases of positively sloped reaction norms in herbivorous insects, in response to variation in diet quality. A closer examination of the few “strong” positive correlations (see Material and Methods, for criteria) shows that there was just one case (Shen et al ) where the positive correlation was consistent across all treatments (Table ). This is in strong contrast to the total number of datasets (139) for herbivores in which there were more than two treatments.…”