Effect of Mating on Egg Production by the Large Milkweed Bug, Oncopeltus fasciatus (Hemiptera: Lygaeidae)

Abstract

Virgin females laid infertile eggs in clusters averaging 17 eggs each, at intervals which averaged 6.6 days, but with great variation between individuals. The presence of 1 or 2 males increased about 3-fold both cluster size and frequency of laying, and these increases were maintained for 3 weeks after the males were removed. Females activated by males each produced 15–30 eggs daily; virgins, 0–7 eggs, with occasional brief periods of egg-laying at twice the mean rate. Activation by males, which apparently required a 3–4-day period, seemed a major requirement in determining fecundity on this strain of Oncopeltus fasciatus (Dallas). The delayed onset and long persistence of this activation suggest that it was mediated by endocrine factors, especially the corpora allata.