Impact of Quantitative Feeding on Nutritional Parameters of Fifth Instar Larvae of Antheraea mylitta

Feeding is an important aspect of insect nutrition which in turn supports growth, development, reproduction and survival. The impact of quantitative feeding on nutritional parameters of fifth instar Antheraea mylitta larvae was studied by providing fresh leaves of Terminalia tomentosa for 1 to 4 times a day. All the parameters improved upon providing fresh diets more times over the single diet (1FD). The absolute body weight increased with increase in number of feeds/day significantly (P less than 0.001). While the maximum weight recorded was 29.61 g in 1FD, the respective weights for two feeds/day (2FD), three feeds/day (3FD) and four feeds/day (4FD) were 39.41 g, 40.63 g and 42.66 g respectively. Feeding period and instar duration were declined (P less than 0.001) and survival increased significantly (P less than 0.001) upon increase in the number of diets. Nutritional indices like ingestion, digestion, relative consumption rate (RCR), relative growth rate (RGR) and gain in body weight increased significantly with the increase in number of feeds/day, but approximate digestibility (AD) and efficiency of conversion of ingested food (ECI) declined, while efficiency of conversion of digested food (ECD) did not change.