The commercial production of silk is called as “Sericulture” which is a labour intensive, agro-based cottage industry, ideally suited not only to India but to all developing countries of tropical belt. Mulberry silkworm (Bombyx mori L.) is a monophagous & multivoltine insect since it is a producer of silk. There are many factors that influence the success of silk production. Bacterial flacherie considered the most important factor. Flacherie is a Syndrome associated with bacterial disease. In the present study, diseased silkworms were collected & the pathogens were isolated and identified based on its morphological, physiological & biochemical features. A gram negative, rod-shaped bacterium was isolated from diseased silkworm. The colony was round, slightly convex, smooth, moist; translucent regular-edged and slightly pinkish on MacConkey Agar confirming the presence of Proteus strain family Enterobacteriaceae. Antibiotics showed promising results for controlling of silkworm diseases & to improve the production of silk & harvesting superior crop. Oral supplementation of antibiotics through mulberry leaves significantly reduced the incidence of Flacherie disease. The antibiotics play a significant role in conferring immunity to the silkworms thereby increasing the effective rate of rearing. The main objectives of this study to identify the pathogen which causes flacherie disease in silkworm (Bombyx mori L.) and its management by application of antibiotics.
