Handling of adults The adults begin to emerge in 28-30 days after infestation of the eggs. The adults can be seen on the inner side of the khada cloth. They are either aspirated with mechanical moth collector or collected with specimen tubes. The whole operation is carried out in a tent of mosquito net. This prevents the large-scale escape of the moths, which if uncontrolled can migrate to the storage area and spoil the grains stored by laying eggs. Workers involved in the collection of moths should wear face moths continuously to avoid inhalation of scales. The moths collected are transferred to the oviposition drum @ 1000 pairs per drum at a time (Fig 4). The oviposition drums of size 30 x 20 cm are made of galvanized iron. The drums rest on tripod frames with legs of height 5cm. The bottoms of the drums are provided with wire meshes that enable collection of eggs. The walls of the drums have two vents (ventilation holes) opposed to each other. The vents are again covered with wire mesh. The lids of the drums have handles besides slots for introducing the moths and adult feed. The oviposition drums filled in a day are maintained for four to seven successive days for egg collection after which are emptied and cleaned for next cycle of use.

6. Handling of eggs The moths lay the eggs in large numbers loosely. The scales and broken limbs are also found in larger quantities along with the eggs. They cause potential hazard to the workers after years of working in Corcyra laboratory. To minimize the risk of scales freely floating in the air, the oviposition drums are placed on sheets of filter paper in enamel trays which trap effectively the scales. Sets of several oviposition drums are kept in ventilated place near an exhaust fan to enable the workers comfort. Daily morning the oviposition drums are lifted up and the wire-mesh bottoms are cleaned gently with a shoe brush so that the eggs and remnants of scales and limbs settled on the mesh are collected along with those on the filter paper. The collections are cleaned by gently rolling the eggs on filter paper to another container. Then they are passed to sieves in series and finally clean eggs are collected. The eggs are quantified in measuring cylinders and used for building up the stocks and natural enemy production. About 100 pairs of adults produce 1.5 cc of eggs in 4 days laying period inside the oviposition drums. From each basin an average of 2500 moths are collected. Hence from each basin 18.00 – 20.00 cc of eggs can be obtained in 90 days. 7. Maintenance of history sheet

Accurate information is needed on the history of individual basins.

The following information is furnished.

1. Date of egg infestation
2. Date of preparation of feed
3. Source of egg
4. Expected date of adult emergence
5. Daily collection of moths
6. Problems encountered with the basin during production
7. Personnel handling the basin