Combined effect of calcium carbonate and sugar on the feeding behavior of the newly hatched larvae of the silkworm, Bombyx mori
2005
Tsuneyama, I.(Institute of Sericulture, Ami, Ibaraki (Japan)) | Ikejima, S. | Iida, N. | Tsurui, Y. | Tanaka, Y. | Ninagi, O. | Oshiki, T.
Our recent studies have revealed that calcium carbonate (CaCO3) combined with sucrose or myo-inositol could induce vigorous feeding behavior of newly hatched larvae of the silkworm, Bombyx mori. In this paper, we investigated the combined effect of calcium carbonate and other sugars, raffinose, fructose, glucose, on the feeding behavior of the larvae. Chinese strains, "To", "Tsukuba", and Japanese strains, "Hi", "Nf", were used. Each substance or combined substances, namely, CaCO3 alone, each sugar or the mixture of CaCO3 and a sugar, were added to the basal diet consisting of cellulose powder, agar, and distilled water. The diet was given to the newly hatched silkworm larvae. Fifty larvae, which derived from eggs of the same maternal moth, were assigned to each test, and the experiment was repeated ten times with eggs of ten moths. The larvae were fed at 25 deg C in the dark. After 72 hours, the amount of feed consumed was evaluated by the number of feces excreted. All the tested larvae fed the diets, and when CaCO3 was used together with each sugar, a synergistic effect that stimulated larval appetite strongly was observed. That is, the amount of feed consumed was much greater than in the case that CaCO3 or sugar alone was added to the basal diet. The results clearly showed that CaCO3 in combination with test sugar could elicit an appreciable feeding response from the larvae. 1) Institute of Sericulture, Iikura 1053, Ami-machi, Ibaraki, 300-0324 Japan; 2) Faculty of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Saiwai-cho 3-5-8, Fuchu, Tokyo, 183-8509 Japan.
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