The effect of nutrition on the development of the beet armyworm

 Spodoptera exigua

was studied.An artificial diet

satisfactorily supported the development of larvae of the beet armyworm

was selected from 28 different artificial media. The rearing results showed that the mean larvae survival

pupal survival and adult emergency were 890%

936% and 941% for Spodoptera exigua reared on this diet. Compared with previous records

the larvae and pupal durations were shorter and each adult female laid more eggs. 15 conseccutive generations of the beet armyworm had been reared on this diet. The effects of cholesterol

chline chloride and vitamin mix on the development of the beet armyworm were also studied. The results showed that cholesterol and choline chloride played important roles in embryogenesis and egg development. Cholesterol and choline chloride had been considered necessary to be added to the diet

but vitamin mix unnesessary.