Journal of Environmental Biology

Impact of different natural hosts and meridic diet on fatty acid profiling of Spodoptera litura (Fabricius) vis-à-vis reproductive physiology

H. Kumar¹, D. Sagar^1,2*, M.C. Keerthi³, M. Sharma⁴, S. Singh¹ and S. Subramanian¹     

¹Division of Entomology, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110 012, India

²Division of Genomic Resources, ICAR-National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources, Bengaluru-560 024, India

³Division of Entomology and Nematology, ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru-560 089, India

⁴Division of Genetics, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110 012, India

Received: 14 May 2024                   Revised: 02 July 2024                   Accepted: 20 August 2024

*Corresponding Author Email : garuda344@gmail.com                  *ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4701-6427

Abstract

Aim: This study was undertaken to document the influence of natural hosts and meridic diet on fatty acid profiling vis-a-vis reproductive physiology of Spodoptera litura (Fabricius).

Methodology: S. litura were larvae fed on various hosts (castor, cauliflower, cabbage and tomato) and meridic diet. After emergence, the adults were frozen in liquid nitrogen. Fatty acid analysis was conducted by Fatty Acid Methyl Esters through gas chromatography (MIDI Sherlock, 2006).

Results: One-way ANOVA and Principal component analysis (PCA) of fatty acid biomarkers from emerged adults showed that the insects reared on meridic diet had the highest percent of linoleic acid (18:2) and oleic acid (18:1) fatty acids, which are mainly responsible for insect reproduction. Interestingly, reproduction related fatty acids were distributed proportionally in case of adults emerged from meridic diet fed larvae.

Interpretation: Fatty acid profile can be used as a surrogate marker to assess the reproductive fitness of insects. The study also concluded that the meridic diet would be an alternate choice in the absence of natural hosts for mass rearing of S. litura throughout the year.

Key words: Fatty acid, Meridic diet, Oleicacid, Principal component analysis, Spodoptera litura

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