Culture Media For Mass Rearing Of The Alternate Host Medeteranian Flour Moth (Ephestia kuehniella Zaller)

• Nazar N. Hama, ⁽¹⁾ Mohamid N. Al-Salty, ⁽²⁾ Amal N. Al-Khalidy and Muna A. Zain Al-Abideen. ^{(1)
  (1)} State-Board for Agricultural Research, Ministry of Agriculture, Baghdad, Iraq
  ⁽²⁾ Arab Organization for Agricultural Development/Arab league Countries; Present address: Faculty of Agriculture, Aleppo University, Syria.

Abstract

A study was conducted to search for a culture medium for mass production of eggs and larvae of the alternate host Mediterranean flour moth (Ephestia kuehniella Zeller) which consequently will be used for mass rearing of two cotton boll worm parasitoids, namely Trichogramma spp. and Bracon spp. Three different types of “seamids” (Coarse wheat flour) (Syrian, Iraqi and Jordanian seamids) in addition to the classical medium, consisted from crushed wheat, yeast and date syrup (dibbis), were investigated. Selected biological parameters such as weights of male and female pupae, fecundity and generation durations have indicated that Syrian and Iraqi seamids were equally superior. Syrian seamid gave an average weight of 50 pupae of 0.732 g male and 0.814 g female, and fecundity was 39 eggs/female while generation duration was 41 days. Similarly, Iraqi seamid gave an average of 50 pupae to be 0.691g for males and 0.762g for females, fecundity was 41 eggs/female and generation duration was 44 days. Classical media gave an average weight for male pupae 0.532g and 0.615g for female pupae and fecundity was 22 eggs/female while generation period was 36 days. Jordanian seamid data was excluded due to microbial contamination during larval development.