| Abstrakt: |
Larvae of melon fly, Zeugodacus cucurbitae were mass reared on six semi-synthetic fruit based diets. Biological parameters of melon fly were recorded compared with artificial larval liquid diet (control) to develop an effective semi-synthetic pumpkin fruit based diet for mass production of pupae in support of sterile insect technique. Diets were formulated by using pumpkin fruit (natural fruit), protein source (yeast extract and brewer’s yeast), fatty acid (wheat germ oil), Sucrose (carbohydrate) and antimicrobial agents (sodium benzoate and methyl paraben) as basic ingredients. Six semi- synthetic diets with different quantities of protein (15.0, 17.5 & 20.0 g), sucrose (5.0, 7.0 & 10.0 g) and wheat germ oil (1.0, 1.5 & 2.0 ml) were formulated. Among the six diets evaluated, semi-synthetic fruit based diet-III (SSFD-III) composed of pumpkin fruit (1000 g), yeast extract(20 g), Sucrose (10 g) and 2.0 ml of wheat germ oil was found as the most appropriate diet with significantly higher pupal recovery (75.35%), pupal weight (1.57 g), adult emergence (83.51%), active fliers (81.09%), adult survivors (44.48%), fecundity (27.43eggs/female) and fertility (77.34%). The diets, SSFD-II and SSFD-V are the next best larval medium for mass rearing of melon fly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
