Artificial insect diets are a crucial factor of many insect rearing systems for research purposes. Three different diets were prepared by formulating variations of the standard diet using various proportions of dried potato powder and wheat germ. The larvae were reared on these diets under long day conditions (25℃, 14L). Fitness parameters including larval development, immature survival, pupal weight, pupation, adult emergence were measured to evaluate the performance of Agrius convovuli. The percentage of pupation varied considerably, with significant differences among diets, on which a maximum pupation percentage of 95.0% was observed. The larvae reared from hatching on diet A completed larval development in 29.1d, and adult emergence occurred on day 17.6d. An analysis of variance showed significant differences among the three diets in the mean pupal weight. These results indicated that A. convovuli adapted well to the artificial diet A and successive rearing conditions. The diet A could serve as viable alternative to natural host plants for consecutive rearing of the insect. The successful development of the diet and rearing technique provides a very useful tool for refining hawk moth.

Animal-assisted-activity programs are often used in pediatric hospital settings to provide emotional support and diversion, however there is little research about their efficacy. AAA for using insect affect children was examined in this study of 50 elementary school children. Self-reported (self-esteem, sociality and stress) were measured. Self-esteem and sociality rating of the children, and display of positive affect were enhance in the AAA group. This study provides further support to the numerous health benefits of AAA, particularly for children in elementary school.