ALTERATIONS IN TRIACYLGLYCEROL ESTER HYDROLASE ACTIVITY DURING LARVAL DEVELOPMENT OF PAPILIO DEMOLEUS (L.)

The lemon butterfly, Papilio demoleus (L.) is very destructive pest of citrus in India. Alterations in triacylglycerol ester hydrolase activity during larval development of P. demoleus (L.) have been studied. The larval triacylglycerol ester hydrolase revealed optimum pH 7.8, incubation time 25 minutes, temperature 370 C, enzyme concentration 1 % and substrate concentration 5%. The gradual increase in larval triacylglycerol ester hydrolase activity was observed from 1-day old larvae to 9-day old larvae and gradual decrease from 9-day old larvae to 4-day old larvae. The maximum triacylglycerol ester hydrolase activity was observed in 9-day old larvae. The physiological role of triacylglycerol ester hydrolase during larval development of P. demoleus has been reported in present paper.