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Relationship between female body size and demographic parameters in Bactrocera Malaysian A (Diptera: Tephritidae)
Author(s) -
Chua Tock H.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
population ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.819
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1438-390X
pISSN - 1438-3896
DOI - 10.1007/bf02514798
Subject(s) - tephritidae , biology , bactrocera , zoology , pupa , pest analysis , botany , larva
Summary The effect of body size, as measured by the head width, of the female Bactrocera sp. Malaysian A (kept separately in sexual pairs) on the demographic parameters was investigated in the laboratory under ambient conditions of 28–30°C, 78–85% RH and natural photoperiod. Body size was shown to influence significantly all the demographic parameters. The expectation of life of females at eclosion from pupae was respectively for head widths of 1.6, 1.8, 1.9, 2.0 and 2.1 mm: 76.2, 73.4, 73.8, 102.4 and 115.2 days. The mean number of eggs laid per female in its life time was respectively: 86.4±48.7, 181.8±56.1, 229.7±72.6, 364.3±69.4 and 477.5±109.3 which was significantly different from one another ( F =3.73, P <0.05) especially the two smaller sizes from the two larger sizes. The regression line for total eggs laid ( Y ) against head width ( X ) was Y =785.2 X −1208.7 ( R 2 =0.35, P <0.001). The net reproductive rate ( R 0 ) was respectively 15.8, 34.0, 43.5, 66.9 and 88.8 eggs, while the intrinsic rate of increase ( r ) was respectivley 0.0435, 0.0538, 0.0670, 0.0665 and 0.0711. The results confirm that for mass rearing purposes, larger females which produce more offspring are to be preferred.