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Influence of black boxing on the manifestation of economic characters in

Bombyx mori

Article · January 2012

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Journal of Sericulture & Technology EM
Y OF S
ERICULTU
RA
LS

Vol. 3(1&2): 53-56, 2012

CI
A

EN
AC

CES
NATIONAL

, INDIA
Research Paper

INFLUENCE OF BLACK BOXING ON THE MANIFESTATION OF

ECONOMIC CHARACTERS IN BOMBYX MORI

B.K. Prakash, B. Sannappa and H.B. Manjunatha

Department of Studies in Sericulture Science, University of Mysore, Mysore – 570 006, India.
E-mail: drbsannappa@yahoo.co.in, manjunathahb@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
Bombyx mori eggs being light sensitive are preserved in dark condition to achieve uniform hatching. A
number of black boxing methods are in vogue but their influence on the rearing performance is not
assessed. The more common open tray, black paper cover and thermocol box methods were tested on egg
hatching, rearing performance, larval growth and cocoon traits in PM x CSR2. Thermocol based black
boxing exhibited highest hatching of eggs compared to black paper and open tray which further resulted
in better larval growth, higher effective rate of rearing (ERR), increased cocoon weight, filament length
and silk productivity and lesser larval period. Thus, thermocol black boxing could yield better results in
commercial silkworm rearing.

Key words: Black boxing, Bombyx mori, economic characters, manifestation.

INTRODUCTION pigmentation stage. A number of devices that provide

The embryonic development of the silkworm,
Bombyx mori L. is influenced by a number of
environmental factors like temperature and relative
humidity (RH). The method of incubation of eggs
becomes important to achieve uniform hatching, proper
larval growth and development and good cocoon
characters (Harada, 1921). Any shortcoming during
incubation leads to 20-25% cocoon crop loss
(Krishnaswami et al., 1977). However, the method of
incubation followed by farmers is unscientific and only
75-85% of eggs hatch for brushing (Himantharaj et al.,
1991).
Besides temperature and humidity, light has
profound effect on silkworm egg hatching. Preserving
the developed eggs in the total darkness for a day or
two before hatching referred to as ‘black boxing’,
synchronizes embryonic development and results in
uniform hatching. During black boxing, embryos in
advanced stage of growth - blue egg or body pigmentation
stage stop short of hatching and laggards in pin head or
eye spot stage continue development till they reach body
complete darkness have been in use like simple black
sheet of paper (thick drawing sheets) or cloth or black
wooden box. Eggs wrapped (25 to 50 DFLs) in a tissue
paper at pin head stage are transferred to black boxes.
Such black boxes are placed under optimum RH and
temperature conditions in the research laboratories and
but not in rearing room at farmers. These eggs are then
exposed to light between 6 to 7 am on the expected day
of egg hatching. The available methods of black boxing
were evaluated based on rearing performance and
cocoon characters.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Disease free layings (DFLs) of PM x CSR 2
procured from National Silkworm Seed Organization,
Mysore were kept for incubation at optimum
environmental conditions (25+1oC and 80±5% RH) until
eye spot stage of the egg. Three DFLs were used in
the following three methods of black boxing (Fig.1).
i) Open tray (T1): The egg sheets wrapped in
butter paper at head pigmentation stage were
 Influence of Black Boxing on the Economic Characters in Bombyx mori

used. Two different black thermocol boxes of

different sizes with small holes for cross ventilation
were used. The small thermocol box was inserted
into the bigger one and wet foam pads were placed
in-between two boxes to maintain humidity. The
eggs were kept inside the small thermocol box and
the top was covered with a thermocol lid.
All the black boxing methods were carried out in
the natural environmental conditions and no appliances
were used to regulate them in the rearing room.
A. Open tray
Egg hatching (%): Hatching percentage was
calculated based on the number of eggs hatched against
total number of eggs per laying.
Silkworm rearing: The three DFLs were brushed
into three different trays separately. The larvae were
fed with the leaves of V-1 mulberry variety and reared
until spinning following standard procedure (Dandin and
Giridhar, 2010). The data on economic traits were
analyzed statistically and mean values presented.

b. Black Paper Bag RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

C. Thermocol box
Fig. 1: Black boxing methods
kept in open plastic tray under natural room
conditions.
ii) Black paper bag (T2): The egg sheets wrapped
in butter paper were kept in the folds of black paper
and placed in a tray covered with black cloth.
iii) Thermocol box (T3): The thermocol black box
fabricated by Pathania and Manjunatha (2012) was
Egg hatching
An egg hatching of 75.78% was observed in
thermocol box method against 53.38% in open tray
method (Table 1). Interestingly, the most commonly
practiced black paper bag method exhibited 59.06%
which was 16.72% less compared to thermocol method
of black boxing (Pathania and Manjunatha, 2012).
Larval weight
The larval weights of all instars were consistently
higher in thermocol box hatched larvae, least in open
tray method and intermediate in black paper bag method
(Table 1). Sekharappa et al. (1994) observed better
larval weight in eggs incubated in earthen pot, while the
complete darkness or 4 h light resulted in higher larval
weight (EL-Shaarway et al., 1978). Similar results under
00:24 LD and 16:8 LD and least larval weight in 24:00
LD were also reported in C.Nichi and NB7 breeds
(Rajanna, 1986). Thermocol black boxed eggs were
shown synchronized growth and uniform hatching;
healthy larvae show better growth and spin cocoons with
more and better quality silk.

54
Journal of Sericulture & Technology
Vol. 3(1&2): 53-56, 2012
 Table-1: Hatching percentage and larval weight in PM x CSR2 eggs hatched through different methods of black boxing
Methods of black boxing Egg Larval weight (g/10)
hatching (%) I instar II instar III Instar IV instar V Instar
3rd Day 6th day 7th day
T-1 = Open tray 53.38±27.08 0.028±0.005 0.223±0.008 0.687±0.053 6.458±0.468 17.65±0.881 27.90±2.070 31.85±1.829

Vol. 3(1&2): 53-56, 2012

T-2 = Black paper bag 59.06±44.82 0.030±0.001 0.228±0.010 0.734±0.072 6.634±0.534 17.74±3.944 29.24±3.640 32.38±4.144
T-3 = Thermocol box 75.78±22.68 0.033±0.001 0.246±0.005 0.814±0.064 7.393±0.269 19.60±1.049 32.70±2.205 33.72±1.964

Journal of Sericulture & Technology

Table - 2: Larval duration in PM x CSR2 eggs hatched through different methods of black boxing

Methods of black Larval duration (h)

boxing I instar II instar III Instar IV instar V instar Total duration
F M Total F M Total F M Total F M Total F Total F M Total

T-1 = Open tray 72.00 23.33 95.33 71.33 23.33 94.66 82.66 23.33 106.0 107.0 24.00 131.3 200.0 200.0 533.3 94.00 627.3
±2.000 ±1.150 ±2.309 ±1.154 ±1.154 ±1.150 ±2.309 ±1.154 ±2.000 ±1.154 ±2.000 ±1.154 ±6.928 ±6.928 ±8.082 ±2.00 ±9.018
T-2 = Black paper 72.66 23.33 96.00 71.33 24.66 96.00 84.66 23.66 108.3± 108.6 24.66 133.3 200.6 200.6 538.0 96.33 634.2

55
bag ±1.154 ±1.154 ±2.00 ±1.154 ±1.154 ±2.000 ±1.154 ±0.577 1.527 ±1.154 ±1.154 ±1.154 ±7.571 ±7.571 ±9.165 ±3.511 ±11.06
T-3 = Thermocol 71.33 22.66 94.00 71.33 22.67 94.00 82.66 23.33 105.9 108.6 21.33 130.0 196.0 196.0 530.0 90.60 620.0
box ±1.154 ±2.309 ±2.00 ±1.154 ±2.309 ±2.000 ±2.309 ±1.154 ±1.154 ±1.154 ±3.055 ±2.000 ±6.928 ±6.928 ±9.165 ±6.00 ±6.928
B. K. Prakash et al.

F = Feeding duration; M = Moulting duration

Table - 3: Rearing performance and cocoon characters in PM x CSR2 eggs hatched through different methods of black boxing

Methods of black Effective Cocoon Cocoon Shell Shell Silk Filament Filament Denier Fibroin Sericin Reelability Renditta
boxing rate of yield weight weight ratio productivity length weight (%) (%) (%)
rearing (kg/ (g) (g) (%) (cg/day) (m) (g)
(%) 100 Dfls)

T-1 = Open tray 86.44± 63.26± 1.464± 0.292± 19.93± 3.65± 757± 0.192± 2.290± 74.48± 25.52± 60.16± 7.533±
3.290 2.820 0.024 0.004 0.066 0.05 52.50 0.009 0.143 0.839 0.839 4.041 0.650
T-2 = Black paper bag 88.33± 73.02± 1.672± 0.334± 19.96± 4.11± 831± 0.218± 2.360± 75.81± 24.18± 68.44± 7.133±
0.867 3.230 0.063 0.012 0.010 0.15 31.50 0.016 0.086 1.119 1.119 5.140 0.152
T-3 = Thermocol box 93.22± 79.62± 1.708± 0.341± 19.99± 4.36± 928± 0.245± 2.376± 76.62± 23.38± 79.36± 6.400±
2.167 2.755 0.037 0.007 0.037 0.14 67.00 0.012 0.068 1.993 1.905 6.876 0.300
 Influence of Black Boxing on the Economic Characters in Bombyx mori
Larval duration
The larval duration was drastically reduced in eggs
hatched from thermocol box compared to other methods
of black boxing (Table 2). Since the embryos grew and
hatched uniformly, the larval growth was better and
healthy (Rajeshwari et al., 2011).
Effective rate of rearing (ERR) and cocoon yield
ERR and cocoon yield were 93.22% and 79.62 kg,
respectively which are higher in the silkworm larval
batches hatched from the thermocol black box compared
to other types (Table 3).
Cocoon weight, shell weight and shell ratio
Thermocol boxed eggs gave 1.708 g and 0.341g of
cocoon and shell weight with 19.99% shell ratio against
1.464 g and 0.292 g and 19.93% in open tray methods,
respectively (Table 3). Similarly, better economic
characters under short day conditions (11:13 LD) were
reported by Reddy and Kumar (1991) and Rajanna
(1986).
Silk productivity
Silk productivity was highest in thermocol boxed
eggs (4.36 cg/day) due to higher shell weight and shorter
larval duration and lowest in open tray (3.65 cg/day)
(Table 3).
Filament length, filament weight and denier
Filament length and weight were 928 m and 0.245
g, respectively as against 757 m and 0.192 g in open
tray hatched eggs. The denier was low in open tray
(2.290) and high in thermocol box (2.376) (Table 3).
Reelability percentage and Renditta
Reelability was highest in thermocol boxed eggs
(79.36%) and lowest in open tray (60.16%). Similarly,
renditta was least with thermocol box (6.400) and highest
in open tray (7.533).
Thus, silkworm eggs black boxed in thermocol box
exhibited better performance in egg hatching, larval
56
Journal of Sericulture & Technology
Vol. 3(1&2): 53-56, 2012
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growth and development and cocoon characters
compared to commonly practiced black paper bag
method. However, a detailed investigations are
warranted using different breeds of silkworm before a
firm recommendation of its suitability for commercial
application.
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