ABSTRACT
The sugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis Fabr., occurs in every agroecosystem of the western hemisphere where sugarcane is grown. Biological control required development of a technique for rearing Diatraea saccharalis in the laboratory, ultimately making its mass production feasible. After the technique for rearing the insect on an artificial diet was mastered in the 1980s, other aspects of insect rearing, such as the control of microorganisms, mechanization, quality control, and lowering the cost of the diet were approached. A cluster analysis was conducted to compare development of Diatraea saccharalis on the several diets using operational taxonomic units involving both biological and nutritional parameters. Diets with a total viability below 75% were discarded, a reasonable limit for a diet to be considered nutritionally adequate for insect rearing.
