COCOON AND POST-COCOON STUDIES ON OUTDOOR AND TOTAL INDOOR REARED TASAR SILKWORM, ANTHERAEA MYLITTA D.

A comparison of certain physical and morphological characters of cocoon from Andhra local ecorace of tasar silkworm, Antheraea my litta, reared under outdoor and indoor conditions during three crop seasons were taken up. Parameters such as length of cocoon shell and peduncle, thickness and weight of cocoon shell and peduncle, and post-cocoon characters were investigated. It was uniformly found that the cocoons of outdoor reared tasar silkworms showed superiority in all the parameters tested over the indoor worms. However, in the post-cocoon characters, ERR and the denier of indoor reared cocoons was better than the outdoor. Further, a reduction in the larval mortality in the indoor rearing was also found. It is concluded that total indoor rearing ot tasar silkworm, Andhra local ecorace, is not viable commercially, but rearing up to third instar under indoor conditions followed by outdoor rearing of the worms in exclusively isolated plantations lead to successful rearing of the insect.