This study aimed to evaluate the effects of different feeding levels of domesticated barnyard millet and imported Bermuda hay on the growth performance and structural development of female and male growing goats. A 4×4 Latin square design was used, involving 8 goats with an average age of 3 months: 4 females and males with an initial body weight (BW) of 10.6 kg and 16.0 kg, respectively. Goats were randomly assigned to 4 dietary treatments: T1 (1.5% BW barnyard millet), T2 (1.5% BW Bermuda hay), T3 (2.0% BW barnyard millet), and T4 (2.0% BW Bermuda hay) over a 22-week period. Results indicated that the highest final body weight (FBW) was significantly observed at the highest feeding level (T4), with females reaching 14.9 kg and males 20.9 kg, while the highest average daily gain (ADG) values were recorded for females in T3 at 75.7 g/d and males in T4 at 81.0 g/d (p<0.05). Dry matter intake (DMI) was highest in the T4 group for both females (437.4 g/d) and males (635.9 g/d), with significant differences observed across treatments (p<0.05), whereas the feed conversion ratio (FCR) showed an improving trend, particularly with a value of 6.0 for females in T4. For structural development, the highest feeding levels led to significant increases in body length, body depth, chest width, and chest girth of both sex. Female and male in T4 achieved body lengths of 53.5 cm and 61.8 cm, and body depths of 45.2 cm and 54.8 cm, respectively. Chest width and girth reached 15.9 cm and 66.5 cm in males, and 13.5 cm and 56.5 cm in females. In conclusion, higher feeding levels, especially with Bermuda hay, may positively influence the growth performance and structural development of goats.

We report Conilepia nigricosta (Leech, 1988) in Korea for the first time. The female of C. nigricosta is nearly identical to the female of Lithosia quadra, and it has caused confusion in the generic classification. Therefore, we reexamined their morphology and also performed to analyze DNA barcode region compared with species of other related genera. As the results, the significant diagnoses between the two species were reconfirmed and provided in the adult appearances, wing venations, and genital structures in both sexes. The DNA barcoding results also showed a large genetic distance ranging from 6.21% to 7.16% between the two species. In phylogenetic relationship for these two species as well as 28 related species of Lithosiina, C. nigricosta was clustered as a sister to L. quadra and they formed a strong monophyletic group. It supports a possibility that these two genera may be a single genus, but more detailed molecular analysis using additional genetic markers and samples is needed to resolve reliable phylogenetic relationships between the taxa examined in this study.