Development of reduced cost diets for the mass rearing of false codling moth (Thaumatotibia leucotreta).

Background: Four trials were conducted; the first established optimal cooking time for false codling moth diets using a microwave oven while the other three trials aimed at determining nutrient requirements, testing these, and evaluating alternative cheaper raw materials.

Results: Microwave preparation for 8 min, using a 1000 W microwave oven was found to be the optimal cooking time for all treatment diets at 200 g kg moisture. The minimum specification (MS) diet yielded more larvae per jar (mean ± standard deviation) (759 ± 29) than the control (CON) (652 ± 32) diet and the ideal amino acid profile (IAAP) diet (596 ± 46).