[Objectives]  To develop a new food capable of producing large numbers of high quality S. inferens. [Methods]  S. inferens were reared on three kinds of foods, unripe corn, fresh water bamboo and sweet corn, and fitness parameters, survival rates, the durations of different developmental stages, pupal weight, and the number of eggs laid per adult female, of population reared on each food were measured and compared. [Results]  The mean larval survival, pupation and eclosion rates of S. inferens raised on unripe corn were 85.3%, 77.1% and 66.3%, respectively, significantly higher than those raised on fresh water bamboo and sweet corn. The developmental duration of a complete generation, and the larval stage of populations raised on unripe corn were 36.2 d and 16.6 d, respectively, which were significantly shorter than those fed on fresh water bamboo and sweet corn. The number of eggs laid per female fed on unripe corn was 81.1, which did not differ significantly from that of females in paddy fields. [Conclusion]  S. inferens raised on unripe corn had superior development and fecundity to those raised on bamboo and sweet corn, and individuals reared on unripe corn also had higher neonatal survival rates and faster larval developmental. Unripe corn is a suitable diet for mass rearing S. inferens.