UTTAR PRADESH JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY

The present study investigated the effect of feeding during the late larval stage of mulberry silkworm (Bombyx mori L.) on mulberry shoots of varying maturity in different seasons on the commercial characters of the mulberry silkworm. The results clearly indicated that shoot with tender leaves during dry summer was benefit for the growth of silkworm. But in West Bengal there was a trend to feed shoot to silkworm by clipping the tender leaves in later stages. Almost 20% of tender leaves were found in a mulberry shoot of 65-70 days. So, by providing a mulberry shoot with tender leaves in the latter stages not only helped to enrich the commercial characteristics of cocoon but also saved 20% of leaves which have great economic value. Performance of tender, medium and mix shoot fed batch from November to April, medium shoot fed batch during June to September and performance of normal shoot feeding in late instar were better than conventional leaf feeding suggested that shoot feeding was more benefit than individual leaf feeding particularly in later stage. Present investigation revealed that almost double man days are required in individual leaf feeding as compared to shoot fed batch.