Vol. 4, Issue 3, Part I (2018)

About dozen species of sericigenous insects are native to the northeastern part of India. The polyphagous eri silkworm mostly consumes leaves from the Euphorbiaceae, Araliaceae, Apocynaceae, and Simaroubiceae families. Eri silkworms mostly feed on castor and kesseru. In times of primary host plant shortage, eri silkworms can be reared on secondary host plants like tapioca, Barpat, Barkesseru, Payam etc. Although castor is the primary host plant for the eri silkworm, it is primarily an annual and must be replanted every six months.