Department of Agricultural Entomology, North Bengal Campus, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Pundibari-736165, Cooch Behar, West Bengal, (India).
1Professor of Entomology, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya.
Eggs of P5 race of bivoltine silkworm, Bombyx mori L. were treated by aqueous solutions of six different chemicals namely ascorbic acid (2%) biotin (1.5%) bovine serum albumin (2%), theophylline (1.5%), 5-hydroxytryptamine (2%) and cyclic adenosine monophosphate (1.5%) at various ages viz., 1-day, 4-day and 7-days. Results revealed that maximum hatching (94.82%) was effected due to treatment at 1-day old eggs and it gradually decreased with advancement of age of eggs. Of the six chemicals, theophylline brought about maximum hatching (93.17%) while 5-HT produced the minimum, (88.98%). The reason for differential in hatching due to chemicals has been discussed.
