Abstract
The traditional oviposition ground for indoor breeding of Luciola lateralis is moss. This study was conducted to find the most suitable alternative oviposition ground that can maintain or increase the oviposition rate of L. lateralis while addressing the problems of larva collection time and larva loss that occur when moss is used. As alternative candidate oviposition ground comprising six colors of non-woven fabric and felt were used to measure the fecundity variation rate of L. lateralis with respect to the color and material of the oviposition ground. In addition, measure the fecundity variation rate of L. lateralis in moss, a traditional oviposition ground, was also measured and investigated for comparison. The investigation showed that the average number of eggs in the non-woven fabric group was higher than that in the felt group. The yellow non-woven fabric had an average number of eggs that was more than 100 times higher than of moss used as a traditional oviposition ground. In the space where the six color non-woven fabric were together, L. lateralis concentrated its oviposition on yellow. These results showed that yellow non-woven fabric can be sufficiently used for efficient indoor mass breeding of L. lateralis while addressing problems caused by moss, a traditional oviposition ground.
