MAINTENANCE OF THE COTTON BOLLWORM, HELIOTHIS-ARMIGERA HUBNER (LEPIDOPTERA, NOCTUIDAE) IN LABORATORY CULTURE .1. REARING ON SEMISYNTHETIC DIET

Based on a semi-synthetic diet, a standard rearing method for the cotton bollworm, Heliothis armigera Hubner, is described. The diet is composed of chickpea (Cicer arietinum) flour, yeast powder, sucrose, ascorbic acid, cholesterol, choline chloride, wheat germ oil, vitamin mixture and a combination of preservatives. A plastic container for individual rearing of the cannibalistic larvae and a cage for mating of adult moths are described. After inoculation with the neonate larvae, development of the different stages was synchronous on this diet. The larval and pupal development period was 14.3 +/- 1.2 and 11.7 +/- 0.82 days, respectively. Females reared on this diet produced an average of 2000 eggs. Adult longevity was 22 days. The female moths retained their oviposition rhythm even after 3 years of laboratory rearing. A method for introduction of wild populations into the laboratory culture is discussed. The reliability of the technique was checked by monitoring the insects' performance for at least 25 generations.