An artificial diet was developed for rearing larvae of the nutsedge moth, Bactra verutana Zeller, and a technique was established for adults. At 30±2°C, the period from egg to adult was 18–20 days. Recovery of adults from diet-reared larvae averaged 61% for 5 generations. When the laboratory-reared insects were used to infest nutsedge plants in the greenhouse and in the field the adults showed no loss of vigor, and the larvae were not less able to infest nutsedge, even after 35 generations. This apparent retention of typical field behavior may be related to the use of host plant material into the rearing medium.
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García et al. (1975) studied this question.