Effects of Dietary Linoleic and Linolenic Acids on Development and Adult Formation of Creatonotus gangis L

Abstract

An effort had been made to observe the effects of dietary linoleic and linolenic acids on growth and development as well as on adult formation of Creatonotus gangis L. Six different levels of both fatty acids viz. 0.05g, 0.075g, 0.1g, 0.125g, 0.15g and 0.2g per 100g of basic diet were incorporated in rice based diet for rearing of the insect. The semi synthetic diet without any fatty acid was taken as control which proved poor diet for the insect while berseem, a natural food plant of this insect, performed better than other diets. Experimental findings revealed that addition of linoleic and linolenic acids in the rice based diet upto a certain level of concentration improved the growth and development along with normal adult formation of the insect. It appeared that linoleic and linolenic acids had almost similar effect on C. gangis. Results also revealed that 0.15g of both fatty acids was the most effective concentration for adult emergence and beyond that level they acted negatively on biology of the insect.