UTTAR PRADESH JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY

The age of the female and male moth influences the fertility level of the eggs (Paul et al., 1993). In Bombyx mori L. viable sperms in the female genital tracts induced the nervous activity which in turn, accelerated the oviposition activity of the female (Yamaoka & Hirao, 1971; Yamaoka et al., 1971). To standardize the age of male and female adult moth of B moriL during egg production in multi-bivoltine grainage schedule, experiment was conducted taking Nistari race as female component of different age group and NB4D2 as Bivoltine male component also of different age in different seasons. The seeds received from the females of different age group coupled with the males of different ages are tested with the seeds received from newly emerged fresh males and females. It is observed that egg laying by the females is affected significantly with the age of the both males and females. The fecundity decreases significantly with the increase of the age of the moth and it is also observed that the females emerged freshly when crossed with the fresh males yield highest numbers of eggs. The seasons are also played an important role in production of silkworm laying. The fecundity is highest in Falgooni crop. The percentage of the hatching of the laying laid by the different females is also significantly difer with the laying of different age of males and females. The hatching of the laying obtained from the fresh females is the best and it is decreased with the age of the females significantly. The hatching is also decreased with the age of the males though they are kept in a lower temperature after their eclusion. Though the fecundity is higher in the seasons like Falgooni crop than that of Ashwina or Aghrayani, the hatching is significantly lower in Falgooni crop.