Abstract
IN many insects, egg production requires special nutrition1. It has also been found, in most insects investigated, that the corpora allata are necessary for the normal function of the ovaries2. In the milkweed bug (Oncopeltus fasciatus (Dallas), Heteroptera, Lygaeidae), the ovaries of the female at the beginning of the adult stage are only slightly developed (Fig. 1a). When the female is kept in an incubator at 25° C. and fed on milkweed seeds and water, the ovaries may, after fifteen days, reach the size shown in Fig. 1b. Of fifteen females kept as described, nine had, at the age of fifteen days, already started oviposition, two more contained ripe eggs, while in four specimens the ovaries had only grown slightly. If the females are given only water and no seeds, they may survive for quite a long time, but no eggs are produced. After fifteen days, the size of the ovaries usually (ten specimens) is as shown in Fig. 1c, and only a slight growth has taken place.
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References
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Bounhiol, J. J., Trans. IX Int. Cong. Ent., 1951, 2, 63 (1953).
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Palm, N.-B., Kungl. Sv. Vet. Akad., Handl., (4), 1 (6) (1949).
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JOHANSSON, A. Corpus allatum and Egg Production in Starved Milkweed Bugs. Nature 174, 89 (1954). https://doi.org/10.1038/174089a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/174089a0
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