Artificial diet significantly enhance fitness and be applicable in mass-rearing of Ephestia elutella (Hubner) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)

Abstract

Ephestia elutella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) is a cosmopolitan and polyphagous pest attack a wide variety of stored products. To better understand the effect of an artificial diet and tobacco leaves on mass-rearing performance of E. elutella, the developmental times of preadult and adult stages, total longevity, reproduction, and life table parameters were analyzed from the data gathered from individual and group reared E. elutella under laboratory conditions according to age-stage, two-sex life table theory. The intrinsic rate of increase (r) and finite rate of increase (lambda) of group-reared data were found significantly lower than individual-reared data on same rearing medium. Both of these parameters of E. elutella reared on artificial diet were significantly higher than tobacco leaves regardless of whether they were reared individual or group-reared. Moreover, high preadult survival rates and fecundity values were recorded from E. elutella reared on artificial diet. In addition, the mass-rearing system of late instar larvae of E. elutella, which are suitable for mass-rearing an effective parasitoid, Habrobracon hebetor (Say) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), demonstrate that rearing 10,000 daily E. elutella 5th instar larvae on artificial diet is cheaper than rearing 5th and/or 6th instar larvae on tobacco leaves. Overall, artificial diet used in present study can be used for continuous mass rearing E. elutella.