author(s)
Rizwana Begum, Ayesha Qamar

abstract
Five experimental dietary formulations (D1-D5) were prepared which composed of sorghum, millet and maize as base diet to rear and maintain the rice moth, Corcyra cephalonica under laboratory conditions. The base composition was supplemented with groundnut in case of D2; and with vitamin B, H and E in D3, D4 and D5 respectively. The parameters studied in the present work were larval as well as adult male and female weight, total developmental period, percent moth emergence, fecundity, weight of eggs and food efficiency index. The Diet D5 was found to outperform other dietary formulations as it resulted in highest larval weight (60.4 mg), adult male weight (17.2 mg), adult female weight (38.4 mg), fecundity (399.2) and food efficiency index (8.45). Diet D2 was also found to yield better result when other parameters like total developmental period and percentage of moth emergence were taken into consideration. The obtained results provide suitable diets for mass rearing, thus contributing significantly for the large scale production of C. cephalonica.