Effect of feeding Silkworm (Bombyx mori L.) on Mulberry treated with Bio and Inorganic Fertilizer on Antennal Sensilla.

Abstract

The present work was directed to study the effect of bio and inorganic fertilizer treatments on the ultra structure antennae of female and male silkworm (Bombyx mori L.), as a trail to understand the effect of the type of fertilization on mulberry trees and silkworm antennal sensilla. The sensory organs on the antennae were visualized by scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that the surface of the antenna is covered with scales overlapped together and is provided with sense sensilla that found on the ventral and lateral surface of the antenna. On the silkmoth antennae, six different types of sensilla have been identified: Olfactory sensilla trichodea, s. basiconica, s. coeloconica, putative gustatory s. chaetica that are multimodal receptors, s. styloconica, that are thought to be thermo-and hygroreceptors and the mechano-sensory sensilla (squamiformia). Silkworm (B. mori) is a monophagous insect that drives almost all required nutrients for its growth and development from mulberry leaf. Mulberry trees were treated with bio fertilizes, chemical fertilizers and the mixture of them through the addition in soil. The results of chemical fertilizer, bio-fertilizer and its mixture increased the growth, development, health, feed consumption and larval weight, total larval duration and this reflected on the number and length of sensilla. Chemical fertilizer, biofertilizer and its mixture increased the size of sensilla than control. Moreover, application by bio-fertilizer resulted in better values larval weight, total larval duration and the size of sensilla. Both chemical and bio fertilizes exhibited better values for pupal weight which reflect on the size of sensilla.

Why the Mulberry Silkworms (Bombyx mori) are Monophagous and the Cotton Leaf Worms (Spodoptera littorallis) are Polyphagous?

“…The sense organs in all insects differ in their number and type (Gaaboub and Tousson, 2005, Faucheux, 2013, Abdelmegeed and Sawires, 2015and Fleischer et al, 2017. The distribution of sense organs on different body parts of insects such as on antennae, head capsule, mouth parts, legs and anal cerci was studied by Kent, et al(1986), Hunger and Steinbrecht (1998), Pophof (1997), Dong et al(2014) and Gaaboub et al(2016).…”