Under these circumstances, United Nations Organisation and several countries in the world are searching for alternative foods and identified insects as best alternative to be used as food and feed. Edible insects contain high quality protein, vitamins and amino acids for humans. Some of the more popular insects and arachnids eaten around the world include crickets, cicadas, grasshoppers, ants, various beetle grubs (such as mealworms), the larvae of the darkling beetle or rhinoceros beetle, various species of caterpillars (such as bamboo worms, mopani worms, silkworms and waxworms), scorpions and tarantulas. There are over 1,900 known species of insects that are edible. In several countries, food products of insects are available. Japan is leading in using insects as feed for rearing quail birds and reports of UNO and FAO says through insect feeding egg production in quail birds has increased. In Paris “Insect” company is planning to produce 10000 t of insect protein fortified food per year. The intentional cultivation of insects and edible arthropods for human food, referred to as mini livestock, is now emerging in animal husbandry as an ecologically sound concept. Keywords: Entomophagy, Insects, Food, Future Prospects
Artificial Diet for Rearing Shoot and Fruit Borer, Conogethes punctiferalis Guenee (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) The shoot and fruit borer, Conogethes punctiferalis Guenee, commonly called as yellow peach moth is a polyphagous pest incurring huge yield losses. Four artificial diets for this pest have been developed in China, mainly to conduct physiological and ecological studies on the borer. The diets comprise of different combinations of chestnut meal, Corn meal and Soybean meal as major ingredients. On contrary, in India, different artificial diets under laboratory conditions at Division of Entomology and Nematology, ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Hessaraghatta, Bengaluru, during 201516 have been developed. Each diet varied with specific token stimuli such as leaf powder of cardamom, castor and maize respectively, and plain diet devoid of token stimuli. These four diets were compared with natural dietcastor capsule as a control for growth and development. Observations on larval, pupal and adult longevity of borer on different diets revealed that larval period on castor leaf semi-synthetic diet, plain diet, maize diet, cardamom diet and natural diet was 29.12±1.05, 26.09±1.12, 24.2±1.10, 22.6±1.15 and 21.10±0.76 days, respectively and pupation lasted for 11.8±0.60, 10.7±0.50, 10.4±0.45, 10.3±0.10 and 9.8±0.15 days, respectively, and adult longevity on an average with mean of 9.7±1.10, 8.6±0.7, 8.9±0.64, 9.1±0.4 and 8.8±0.4days, respectively. This investigation concludes that castor diet was significantly more preferable to the shoot and fruit borer. Keywords: Artificial diet, Castor, Crambidae, Short borer
Kumar, K.P1* , Nitin K.S2., Vasudev kammar1, Chakravarthy, A.K2. and Khader Khan, H1. 1
Department of Agricultural Entomology, College of Agriculture, UAS, GKVK, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India 2
Division of Entomology and Nematology, ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Hessaraghatta, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India *Corresponding E-mail:
[email protected]
