Study of Morphometric Aspects of Eri Silkworm (Samia ricini D.) reared on the host plant

Abstract

The environmental conditions play a significant role and influence the quantitative and qualitative characters of silkworm such as larval length, larval breadth, larval weight and larval duration. Larvae of Eri silkworm (Samia ricini D.) were reared on Castor leaves (Ricinus communis). The data that were recorded for larval length (cm) from first to fifth instar are 0.76 ± 0.003; 1.49 ± 0.023; 3.09 ± 0.020; 4.39 ± 0.04 and 6.57 ± 0.04 respectively, for larval breadth (cm) are 0.122 ± 0.007; 0.24 ± 0.0; 0.46 ± 0.0; 0.74 ± 0.0 and 1.14 ± 0.0 respectively and for larval weight (g) are 0.007 ± 0.01; 0.033 ± 0.02; 0.37 ± 0.01; 1.07 ± 0.02 and 3.74 ± 0.03 respectively and the larval period of the reared larvae lasted for about 20 days.