Studies on the biology of Spodoptera litura (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) on artificial diet under laboratory conditions

Abstract

The development of a viable mass-production technique for the generalist herbivore Spodoptera litura Fabricius (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), using modified artificial diets, is crucial for conducting experiments to study its biology and propose control methods. This study aims to investigate the developmental biology of S. litura fed on artificial diet. The mean developmental period of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth larval instar on artificial diet was 2.57±0.51, 3.50±0.57, 4.55±0.68, 5.51±0.71, 5.51±0.71 days, respectively. The mean total life period of male and female insect was 38.50±0.88 and 41.70±0.56 days, respectively. Observations on the life cycle parameters, including pupal duration (8.00±0.71 days), and adult longevity (8.00±1.00 days, female, and 7.10±0.88 days, male), were recorded. The current results indicate that S. litura can be effectively cultured on artificial diets under controlled laboratory conditions.