Journal of Applied Life Sciences International

The oil palm leaf miner, Coelaenomenodera elaeidis is one of the most destructive pests of the oil palm in Nigeria. It was reared on an artificial diet through all its developmental stages in the entomology laboratory of the Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research between July and September 2011 with the objective of observing the developmental duration and survivorship without predation. Rearing temperatures fluctuated between 26°C–34°C with a mean of 29.51°C and relative humidity between 52% - 92% with a mean of 77.06%. Development time of C. elaeidis was 91±3.51 days on artificial diet. Body length from I st instar to adult ranged from 1.94 - 8.01 mm; weights from Ist instar to adult ranged from 0.112-0.184 g, while leaf area tunneled from Ist instar to adult ranged from 1.58-8.51 cm. Between temperatures of 26°C±1.37 and 34°C±1.73 and relative humidity of 53%– 92%, 91 days were required to complete C. elaeidis development. This study is important in providing the developmental biology of the oil palm leaf miner using artificial diet throughout its life cycle.