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ARTIFICIAL DIET FOR COCOA POD BORER: A TOOL FOR INSECT PEST MANAGEMENT

Project Leader : Azwan Awang

BACKGROUND

Cocoa pod borer (CPB) Conopomorpha cramerella Snellen (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) is the most destructive pest of cocoa in Malaysia and other South-East Asian countries. Damage is due to larvae that feed on the pulp and placenta resulting in bean clumping and premature ripening.

What is an artificial diet?

An insect artificial diet is a mixture of various ingredients that sustains an insect throughout its life cycle, i.e. development from egg to larva to pupa to adult to egg again.

An artificial diet for CPB may be used for insect pest management programs such as:

  • testing the toxicity of novel and potentially insecticidal compounds,
  • discovering new insect pathogens,
  • studying the genetics of CPB,
  • developing a sterile insect technique (SIT) program, and
  • developing an autocidal biological control (ABC) program.

    OBJECTIVE

    To develop a high-quality artificial diet that allows CPB to complete its life cycle in the laboratory.