Mass Rearing Technique of Eublemma scitula Ramb. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) an Important Predator of Brown Scale, Saissetia coffeae Walker

Abstract

Three different methods were tried to find out suitable laboratory technique for mass rearing of Eublemma scitula Ramb. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) an important predator of brown scale insect Saissetia coffeae Walker (Homoptera: Coccidae) a serious pest of pointed gourd, Trichosanthes dioica Roxb in and around Anand, Gujarat. Out of these rearing methods, namely, a) on pointed gourd leaves, b) on green potato sprouts and c) on pumpkin fruits, the method c), which involved either releasing E. scitula eggs (c 1) or larvae (c 2) on pumpkin fruit with growing scale population was observed to be the best for mass rearing of the predator with seed to yield ratio of 1: 0.63 and 1: 0.73 in c 1 and c 2, respectively. On an average, 69.4 and 73 pupae could be produced in methods c 1 and c 2, respectively. from a single pumpkin in a single generation of the scale, within two months (October to November). The technique was found to be suitable for mass rearing of E. scitula to augment the predator during June July for suppression of the host S. coffeae at its initial stage of infestation. Limitations observed in other methods of rearing were described.