The Effect of Different Quantities of Food During the Larval Period on the Sex Ratio and Size of Lucilia Sericata Meigen and Theobaldia Incidens (Thom.)

Abstract

Larvae of the green bottle fly, Lucilia Sericata, were removed from food in lots of one hundred at six-hour intervals after feeding thirty hours, the longest feeding period being 96 hours. The size of resulting flies became in general increasingly larger as the feeding period was increased and the sex ratio was reversed from a large preponderance of males in the underfed to a preponderance of females in the longer feeding periods. Larvae of the mosquito, Theobaldia Incidens, were reared in lots of one hundred in distilled water to which yeast was added in quantities ranging from .5 gram to 5 grams. The resulting mosquitoes became in general increasingly larger as the quantity of yeast was increased and the sex ratio was reversed in a manner opposite to that of the green bottle fly.