TY  - BOOK
AU  - Doddamani, Vinayak B.
AU  - Behere, G. T.
TI  - Evaluation of different artificial diets for laboratory rearing of Coccinella septempunctata L. (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)
U1  - 638.5769 
PY  - 2014///
CY  - Umiam
PB  - CPGS, CAU
KW  - Insect culture
KW  - Artificial diets
KW  - Insects
N2  - Seven spotted ladybird beetle Coccinella septempunctata (L.) is one of the important beneficial insect species within in coleopteran family coccinellidae, because this species feed on many pest species of aphids. The ever increasing demand for continuous supply of laboratory reared beneficial insects like C. septempunctata for biological control of insect pests has necessitated the development of more efficient, reliable and cost effective method of mass production. Due to this, the research on development of artificial diets for these kinds of insects has been augmented recently. Artificial diets are comparatively cheaper and have been used for rearing of many insect species including biological control agents. Given the importance of C. Septempunctata as a potential biological control agent, its rearing and mass multiplication under laboratory conditions is urgently warranted. Therefore, this thesis focused on evaluation of different artificial diets for mass rearing of C. septempunctata under laboratory conditions and to study the biology of C. septempunctata on suitable or preferred diet. A total of 21artificiual diets were evaluated for rearing of C. septempunctata under laboratory conditions and the developmental growth parameters were studied. Out of 21 artificial diets, 20 diets (D-2 to D-21) did not support all the growth parameters and C. septempunctata was unable to complete its life cycle on these diets. In most of these (D-2 to D-21) diets the larval/grubs mortality of C. septempunctata caused at first and third instar itself. Cat food based artificial diet (Artificial Diet-1) was found to be better as this diet supported all the growth parameters and C. septempunctata successfully completed its life cycle, but the overall morality on this diet reached up to 73.20%. The fecundity, total developmental period and adult longevity of C. septempunctata were also significantly affected on Artificial Diet-1. Supplementation of artificial diets either with aphids or lepidopteran pupae did not improve the performance of C. septempunctata on these diets. However, in contrast natural diet (mustard aphids, Lipaphis erysimi) was found to be preferable for mass rearing of C. septempunctata over Artificial Diet-1. The fecundity of C. septempunctata was significantly higher (P <0.05) on natural diet (295.59±11.11) than artificial Diet-1 (15.41±0.56), besides these the Larval Developmental Period (LDP) was also significantly shorter on natural diet (16.83±0.51 days) than Artificial Diet-1 (24.10±0.78 days). Adults (both male and female) of C. septempunctata were heavier and lived for longer time on natural diet. Present investigation concluded that, although, natural diet (Mustard aphid, L erysimi) was found to be suitable by C. septempunctata, but this kind of rearing system requires production of host plants and aphid prey which actually requires substantial amount of money, labour, frequent attention and large amount of space, therefore this could not be a solution for mass rearing C. septempunctata. Among 21 artificial diets tested, Artificial Diet-1 found to be better. However, further research work is needed to improve this diet by identifying and quantifying the chemicals which could stimulate the feeding of C. septempunctata on this diet.
 Key words: C. septempunctata, evaluation, artificial diets, natural diet and biology. 


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