Demographic parameters for the Mediterranean fruit fly reared on each of twenty four different hosts from sixteen different plant families are reported. These include cohort parameters of development, survival, pupal sizc, and fecundity as well as population parameters such as intrinsic rate of population increase (r) and mean generation time. Major findings include the following: i) no consistent quantitative relationships existed between r and its chief demographic determinants such as preadult developmental time and adult fecundity; and ii) few correlations existed among the cohort life history parameters themselves. The principle conclusion is that the medfly is a successful generalist frugivore because of its developmental ability to offset the effect of the value for a host-specific trait that tends to lower r with one that tends to increase r, the net result of which is to maintain a relatively high r.

Female medflies were subjected to four different patterns of host deprivation at each of three levels for a 24‐day period. Treatments ranged from host absence 8 days post‐eclosion to host absence 2 out of 3 days. Survival was recorded daily and egg production was recorded on the days in which hosts were present. The direct effect of host deprivation is to deny females the opportunity to oviposit. This disrupts their reproductive cycle and reduces their overall reproductive effort. Reduced reproductive effort at young ages increases survival (up to 2‐fold) and daily reproduction (up to 8‐fold) at older ages. Therefore, the long term effect of host deprivation is to postpone senescence. The implications of these findings regarding medfly sensescence are discussed in relation to: (i) reduction in population extinction rates during periods of host scarcity and (ii) egging strategies in medfly mass‐rearing. Résumé Modifications apportées à la biologie de Ceratitis capitata Wiedemann privées d'hôtes pendant différentes périodes Les femelles de C. capitata ont été privées d'hôtes suivant 4 modalités pendant 3 durées (33, 50 et 67% de leur vie) par période de 24 heures. Les modalités se répartissaient de la privation pendant 8 jours après l'éclosion jusqu'à 1 jour sur 3. La survie a été notée chaque jour et la ponte pour tous les jours où il y avait des hôtes. L'effect direct de l'absence d'hôte est d'empêcher la femelle de pondre. Ceci interrompt leur cycle de ponte et réduit leur activité reproductrice totale. Un effort reproductif réduit des femelles jeunes augmente la survie (jusqu'à 2 fois) et la ponte quotidienne (jusqu'à 8 fois) chez les femelles plus âgées. Ainsi, l'effet à long terme de la privation d'hôtes est d'ajourner la sénescence. Les implications de ces observations sur la sénescence de C. capitata sont discutées quant à: (1) la réduction des taux d'extinction des populations pendant les périodes de rareté d'hôtes; et: (2) les stratégies d'obtention de pontes dan les élevages de masse de C. capitata.

Parasitism of the Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say), by Edovum puttleri Grissell, an exotic egg parasitoid, was studied in relation to the age of host eggs, the age of adult, female parasitoids, and temperature. Parasitism was greater in eggs ≤2 days old than in eggs older than 2 days. Eggs older than 2 days were killed primarily by probing and consequent desiccation. The percentage of eggs killed by probing was positively correlated with host age and negatively correlated with percentage parasitism. Total mortality of eggs from parasitism and probing did not differ among age classes. Following a 3-day preoviposition period, parasitism and probing increased with an increase in the age of females, peaked when adults were ca. 13 days old, and subsequently declined. Parasitism and probing were influenced by temperature: at 15 °C, no parasitism or probing was observed; above 15 °C, mortality from parasitism and probing increased with an increase in temperature up to 30 °C; above 30 °C, the number of eggs that were parasitized and probed decreased with an increase in temperature.

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This paper determines reproductive limits and variation in performance of male twospotted spider mites Tetranychus urticae Koch when virgin females are provided ad libitum over the first eight days of adult life. Three phases of male reproduction were studied: copulations, insemination and reproduction. An average one day old male copulated 15 times, inseminated 15 females, and contributed to 336 daughters. All parameters declined with age. The average male inseminated 70 females and contributed to 1145 daughters in the first days. Variability between males was small for all parameters considered. These data suggest that the number of sperm transferred at each insemination, rather than the number of inseminations, is the limiting step to higher male reproductive output. Résumé Limites et hétérogénéité des possibilités reproductives du mâle de Tetranychus urticae Koch, en présence d'un nombre illimité de femelles La reproduction est un processus qui nécessite généralement un mâle et une femelle. Cependant la biologie des populations ne s'est traditionnellement intéressée qu'à la contribution des femelles dans ce processus. Un effet de cet accent sur les femelles est que l'activité reproductrice des mâles a été très ignorée. Cet article examine, dans un contexte démographique, l'activité reproductrice des mâles de T. urticae, acarien arrhénotoque et phytophage. Trois séquences de l'activité reproductrice des mâles ont été examinées: 1) la copulation, 2) l'insémination, 3) la reproduction. En moyenne un mâle de 1 jour a copulé 15 fois, inséminé 15 femelles et a eu 336 filles. Pendant les 8 premiers jours, le mâle moyen a inséminé 70 femelles et a eu 1145 filies. Ces résultats suggèrent que le nombre de spermatozoïdes transférés à chaque insémination, plus que le nombre d'inséminations, est le facteur limitant d'une forte contribution du mâle à la reproduction.