No abstract

The ovarian cycle in Culicoides barbosai Wirth & Blanton and C. furens (Poey), two biting midges of considerable importance in Jamaica, was studied in the laboratory. In C. furens, a single blood-meal was sufficient for development of a substantial number of eggs; in C. barbosai, which took a relatively smaller blood-meal, very few eggs were matured (usually between 10 and 20 but sometimes fewer than 10), and some females failed to produce any eggs at all.A high degree of gonotrophic harmony was observed in C. furens, but in C. barbosai the degree of harmony was low and a large proportion of the ovarian follicles degenerated; these differences may be associated with the relative size of the blood-meals of the two species.The duration of the gonotrophic cycle (from feeding to the appearance of mature eggs in the ovaries) at 68, 77, 85 and 91°F. was 156, 104, 82 and 72 hr., respectively, in C. barbosai and 102, 59, 42 and 36 hr. in C. furens.In experiments on the effect of temperature and carbohydrate feeding on egg production, temperature did not influence egg production in C. barbosai, and greater numbers of eggs were not matured by females given access to honey during the period of egg development. However, access to honey did increse the proportion of individuals surviving the period of egg maturation and also the numbers that mastured any eggs at all. Females of C. furens kept at 77°F. matured more eggs than those kept at 91 or 85°F.; access to honey improved survival, but its effects on egg production were inconclusive in these experiments.Observations indicated that adults of both species are probably in the habit of taking carbohydrate food in nature.Females of both species may be autogenous, though the proportion of such individuals varied considerably between populations from different breeding sites. Autogenous females of both species emerged from the pupa with ovaries already relatively well developed; in C. barbosai the ovarian follicles were in Stage IIB or III, in C. furens they were in late Stage IIA or IIB. Large numbers of eggs were matured by autogenous females of the former, and the same is probably true of the latter.The egg stage is apparently of longer duration C. barbosai than in C. furens. At 68, 77, 85 and 91°F., most eggs of C. barbosai hatched on days 12, 6–7, 5–6 and 5, respectively, whereas at the three higher temperatures most eggs of C. furens hatched on days 4, 3 and 2. Percentage fertility varied between individual egg batches of both species.

Leptoconops becquaerti (Kieff.) is one of the most troublesome species of biting midge in Jamaica. The gonotrophic cycle in this insect was studied and is described. In this species a single blood-meal is sufficient for the development of the ovaries and the maturation of eggs.The stages in follicle development and digestion of the blood-meal adopted for other blood-sucking Diptera have been applied to L. becquaerti with slight modifications. A high degree of gonotrophic harmony is present in this insect.Fully fed females were kept at five temperatures, 68, 77, 85, 91 and 98°F., to determine the time taken for the ovarian follicles to reach Stage V of development (egg mature, chorion present). The times were approximately 98, 64, 36, 30 and 27 hours, respectively.It was demonstrated that the number of ovarioles in L. becquaerti was proportional to the size of the individual (as measured by wing length). The average number of ovarioles in an insect of wing length 0.83 mm. (the mean wing length of the population sampled) was about 103.The number of eggs matured was also proportional to wing length, and was also dependent upon the temperature at which the flies were kept. Thus at the standard wing length of 0·83 mm., the average numbers of eggs matured at the five chosen temperatures (68 to 98°F.) were 78, 85, 65, 61 and 60, respectively. Females that had matured eggs were induced to oviposit by the decapitation technique.Females provided with a source of carbohydrate (honey) during egg maturation produced slightly more eggs on the average than those fed on blood alone. The comparable figures at 91°F. in the standard individual were 65 and 61, respectively. The probable rôle of supplementary carbohydrate feeding in nature is discussed.At the five experimental temperatures the greatest number of eggs hatched on days 11, 7, 5, 4 and 4, respectively, after laying. Egg-batches used in these experiments were deposited by decapitated females, and may therefore have been laid somewhat before the usual time in nature. The percentage fertility varied between individual batches at all temperatures, but the over-all fertility was consistently high (70–75%) at the lower four temperatures, and very low (4%) at 98°F. This difference almost certainly resulted from high temperature in the latter instance. Fertility in egg-batches deposited naturally (without decapitation) was of the same order as that in batches deposited by headless females.