Abstract: The silkworm, Bombyx mori L. feeds solely on mulberry (Morus alba L.) leaves for all material, micro and macronutrients. An experiment was conducted to examine toxic effects of mulberry leaf (produced treating with various experimental concentrations of copper chloride (CuCl2) employing pot experimental system) on the commercial rearing characteristics of popular bivoltine x bivoltine mulberry silkworm hybrid, CS2 x CSR4. Though 8 experimental Cu concentrations (5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320 and 640 µg/g soil) apart from control, were planned for production of mulberry leaf, leaf from only 4 experimental Cu concentrations (5, 10, 20 and 40 µg/g soil), apart from the control were used for mulberry (V1 variety) leaf produced as leaf from other experimental conditions was insufficient or leaf not produced at all. Further, experimental mulberry leaf was used only for the fifth instar silkworm larval eating period.
Only four silkworm commercial rearing parameters; larval weight, cocoon weight, shell weight and shell ratio were considered. Initial two low experimental Cu concentrations (5 and 10 µg/g soil) resulted in increased larval weight, cocoon weight and shell weight, indicating promontory effects of Cu as essential micronutrient. Later higher experimental Cu concentrations (20 and 40 µg/g soil) reduced their count, indicating inhibitory effects as toxicity inducer at these concentrations. Shell ratio on the other hand, had not been influenced by Cu, indicating that shell ratio is race dependent rather than influenced by Cu. Toxicity Index (TI) and Phytotoxicity computed also confirmed the above observations. Results are discussed based on the available literature.
Keywords: Copper, toxicity, mulberry leaf, Morus alba, silkworm, Bombyx mori, rearing parameters, Tolerance Index, Phytotoxicity.
Title: Toxicity of copper treated mulberry (Morus alba L.) leaf on commercial rearing characteristics of the silkworm, Bombyx mori L.
Author: A. Yerranna, P. Lakshminarayana Reddy, B. Sujatha, B. Vinayak Reddy, B. Satyanarayana, S. Sankar Naik
International Journal of Life Sciences Research
ISSN 2348-313X (Print), ISSN 2348-3148 (online)
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