Abstract
THE ease with which diapause may be broken in the eggs of a common North American grasshopper, Melanoplus differentialis differentialis (Thomas), with mineral (paraffin) oil has been described recently1. Treatment with the oil for 1 hr. or less is sufficient to remove the waterproofing materials from the hydropyle. After the eggs are taken from the oil, cleaned and transferred to a medium from which they Can absorb water, development begins and they hatch in a completely normal manner about 18 days later. No harmful effect of the oil on the eggs can be detected even if they are left in it for as long as four weeks.
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SLIFER, E. Survival of Grasshopper Eggs Kept for Long Periods in Mineral Oil. Nature 184, 1424–1425 (1959). https://doi.org/10.1038/1841424b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1841424b0
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