Study of the morphometric aspects of Muga silkworm (Antheraea assamensis H.) reared on the host plant

Abstract

The environmental conditions play a significant role and influence the quantitative and qualitative characters of silkworm such as larval length, larval breadth and larval weight. Larvae of Muga silkworm (Antheraea assamensis H.) were reared on Som leaves (Machilus bombycina) in the Chotua season / crop. The data that were recorded for larval length (cm) from first to fifth instar are 0.943 ± 0.021; 1.596 ± 0.006; 2.75 ± 0.022; 5.062 ± 0.032 and 7.31 ± 0.014 respectively, for larval breadth (cm) are 0.2 ± 0.001; 0.276 ± 0.001; 0.5134±0.004; 1.072±0.0043 and 1.471 ± 0.003 respectively and for larval weight (g) are 0.024 ± 0.0; 0.059 ±0.01; 0.63±0.019; 3.28 ±0.062 and 5.88 ± 0.08 respectively.