Abstract
RATCLIFFE1 has recently suggested that there may possibly be two physiological races of L. sericata, as the length of the pupal period of this insect at 32°C. in Scotland is 5.4 days while in France at the same temperature it is 8 days. This latter figure is quoted from a paper by Davies2 who, in turn, is only quoting the work of Cousin3 in France. Unfortunately, the figure given by Davies is inaccurate and should be 4.9 days, not 8 days. I have found4 that humidity plays some part in determining the length of the pupal period, and as Cousin and Ratcliffe have not controlled this factor in their work, it is probable that the discrepancy observed is due to variable humidity. The postulation of physiological races on this type of data is to be deprecated.
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References
Ann. Appl. Biol., 22, 742 (1935).
Ann. Appl. Biol., 21, 267 (1934).
Bull Biol. France Belg. Suppl. 15 (1932).
Parasitology, 27, 291 (1935).
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EVANS, A. Physiological Races of Lucilia sericata, Mg. Nature 137, 33–34 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/137033c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/137033c0
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