QUANTITATIVE ASPECTS OF OVARIAN DEVELOPMENT IN MOSQUITOES

Abstract

Experiments on an anautogenous strain of Culex pipiens L. failed to support the theory that sustained gut stretching initiates egg development by anautogenous mosquitoes. The stomach expanded in females fed sugar after the anus was sealed, but eggs did not develop. Also, the ovaries were not activated by an enema of agar which congealed in the stomach and kept it distended. Development of eggs by females given enemas of γ-globulin or egg albumen was presumably an ovarian response to nutrient; development of eggs by some females that received nutrient (amino acids) by direct injection into the haemocoele supported this interpretation. When 1, 4, 7, and 10% egg albumen or γ-globulin were supplied as volumetrically equal enemas, response to 1% was least (few eggs matured and these by only a few females), but was greater with increased amounts of nutrient. It is proposed that certain mechanisms permit the mosquito to evaluate the nutrient potentially available in a blood meal before its complete digestion and to start maturation of an appropriate number of eggs.