Propagation of a cerambycid borer on a meridic diet

Larvae of a cerambycid borer, Plagiohammus spinipennis, have been reared from hatching to pupation on a meridic diet. Larvae developed faster, were larger, and showed higher larval survival and oviposition rates than those reared on the insects' normal host Lantana camara. A rearing technique using this artificial diet was adapted to large-scale propagation of this bio-control insect.