Effect of Earlier and Delayed Mounting of Matured Larvae on the Commercial Characteristics of bombyx Mori L.

The effect of earlier and delayed mounting of matured larvae on the commercial characteristics of Bombyx mori L. was investigated in the present experiment. There are no significant differences in yield, cocoon and reeling characters between the control (larvae mounted after ideal maturation) and larvae mounted 24 hours after maturation. The present study indicates that larvae mounted 24 hours before maturation give significantly inferior results in terms of yield, cocoon and reeling characters as compared to other characters. The study also indicates that late mounting of larva does not affect quality of cocoon but early mounting of larvae may seriously affect the quality of cocoon. The main reason behind this is that early mounting of silkworm larvae does not allow to create superfluous amino acids in the body and hence it does not excrete from the body. It ultimately affects the process of cocooning. Hence hurry in mounting is not desirable before ideal maturation of larvae, even if labour or time is not available. Rather farmers may wait for a day after ideal time of maturation.