Safety evaluation of four entomopathogenic nematode species against two silkworm species

Abstract

Chinese oak silkworm (Antheraea pernyi) and mulberry silkworm (Bombyx mori) are economically important insects used for silk production and food resource. Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) from the families of Steinernematidae and Heterorhabditidae are beneficial organisms currently considered in biological control. In this paper, we evaluated survival of two silkworm species exposed to four Steinernema species which are widely applied in pest control. The results showed that among four Steinernema species, S. bicornutum and S. feltiae did not have an effect on the larval survival to the two silkworm species, whereas S. carpocapsae and S. glaseri did have an effect. Each Steinernema species poses no threat to hatchability of eggs, pupation rate, larval durations and cocoon shell ratio.

Microwave-Assisted Synthesis of Luminescent Carbonaceous Nanoparticles as Silkworm Feed for Fabricating Fluorescent Silkworm Silk

“…The CD and control groups had almost the same cocoon shell mass (approximately 0.19-0.20 g). The cocoon shell ratio measures how much silk can be reeled from a specific number of young, fresh cocoons [38]. There was no discernible difference between the ratio of cocoon shell in the CD groups and the control group (approximately 21.74-22.61%).…”