Occurrence Patterns and Control Methods of Silkworm Muscardine

Silkworm muscardine, also known as hardening disease, is a silkworm disease caused by fungal parasitism. The bodies of diseased silkworms dry out and harden, with mycelium and conidia growing on the body surface. Because the bodies of diseased silkworms produce spores of different colors on the outside, the disease can be divided into white muscardine, green muscardine, yellow muscardine, gray muscardine and brown muscardine, among which white muscardine is the most common. There are two routes of infection: contact infection and wound infection. In both cases, pathogen spores attach to the surface of the silkworm body through media such as air and mulberry leaves, then penetrate into the silkworm body and parasitize it. If not controlled in time, it spreads very quickly and the mortality rate is relatively high.

1. Fumigation method for muscardine prevention

Chloroisocyanurate fumigation is commonly used. @#@250@#@ For each cubic meter of silkworm rearing room, use 1 gram of the chemical. After lighting it to produce smoke, close doors and windows promptly, seal for 30 minutes, then open windows for ventilation. If muscardine prevention chemicals are temporarily unavailable, pine needles (15 grams per cubic meter of silkworm rearing room) or wood shavings, rice straw, rice husks, etc. can also be used for fumigation. Alternatively, for each cubic meter of silkworm rearing room, use 10-15 grams of dry firewood and carry out incomplete combustion, trying to release the smoke within half an hour and fill the silkworm rearing room with it. After keeping it for 1 hour, discharge the smoke.

2. Dusting method for muscardine prevention

For newly hatched silkworms and molted silkworms, silkworm bed disinfectant, muscardine powder or Disease Prevention No. 1 can be used to disinfect the silkworm body and silkworm bed. In humid weather or during periods when silkworm muscardine occurs frequently, use once a day. The method is: before feeding or giving fresh leaves, sprinkle the chemical, then feed mulberry leaves within 5-10 minutes. Note that silkworm bed disinfectant cannot be mixed with alkaline substances such as lime.

3. Body spraying method for muscardine prevention

For silkworms in the grown silkworm stage, once silkworm muscardine occurs, antibacterial agent 420 can be used for body spraying to prevent muscardine. The method is: dilute antibacterial agent 420 with water into a 20-fold solution. Before feeding mulberry leaves, use a sprayer to evenly spray it onto the silkworm body and silkworm bed, then feed mulberry leaves and remove excrement. During the process of spraying antibacterial agent 420, it must not come into contact with alkaline substances, otherwise the efficacy of the chemical will be affected.

4. Net soaking method for muscardine prevention

In combination with excrement removal, antibacterial agent 420 can be used to soak the excrement-removal net, so as to achieve the purpose of preventing and controlling silkworm muscardine.

While adopting the above methods to prevent and control silkworm muscardine, it is also necessary to conscientiously eliminate pests in mulberry fields and prohibit spreading out muscardine-infected silkworms to dry, etc., so as to prevent the spread of the source of the disease.