Open AccessFecundity and egg viability in relation to female body size in Neodiprion sertifer (Hymenoptera: Diprionidae)
Author(s) -
Heliövaara Kari,
Väisänen Rauno,
Varama Martti
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
ecography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.973
H-Index - 128
eISSN - 1600-0587
pISSN - 0906-7590
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0587.1990.tb00603.x
Subject(s) - sawfly , fecundity , biology , hymenoptera , instar , zoology , larva , scots pine , ecology , botany , pinus <genus> , population , demography , sociology
Relationships between female size and fecundity, egg viability and embryonal development were studied in Neoriprion sertifer. Sawfly females, reared from the 1st instar larvae on Scots pine needles heavily affected by industrial pollutants or on relatively unpolluted needles, were induced to lay eggs parthenogenetically in the field in Finland. Females reared on polluted needles were smaller and oviposited an average of 68.8 eggs, and those reared on unpolluted needles 79.4 eggs per female. However, the higher egg viability in the former group masked the effect of reduced female size. This compensation was primarily related to the size of the females, larger individuals producing relatively fewer viable eggs in both groups.