Insect Fecundity and Fertility: Chemically Induced Decrease

Abstract

Ingestion of arsenite by braconid wasps, which have mature ovaries at eclosion, results in a nonselective lowering of egg production; of the eggs produced, the percentage of eggs hatched was not lowered. The effectiveness of the somatic tissues concerned with food assimilation and utilization was altered. The folic acid antagonist, methotrexate, inhibits developing gametes directly, so that differential destruction of gametes and death of zygotes occurs.