This study aims to utilise sericulture biowaste, i.e. waste silkworm pupae, for mass production of the predatory stink bug Eocanthecona furcellata (Wolff). To achieve this, waste silkworm pupae were frozen and their suitability as a feed to E. furcellata was evaluated under laboratory conditions. The survival, development and biological fitness of the E. furcellata on silkworm pupae were determined and compared with other frozen larvae i.e. Galleria mellonella and Corcyra cephalonica as a feed to the predator. The results indicated that the predator can be successfully mass produced on frozen waste silkworm pupa without any effect on its developmental biology, reproduction and fitness. The optimal production rates and the predation of E. furcellata on silkworm pupae were similar to that on a natural host. It is concluded that the waste silkworm pupae from sericulture industry can be used as a feed/prey for the mass production of the predatory pentatomids.
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Gupta et al. (2020) studied this question.
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