Age at Sexual Maturity in Female Flour Beetles, Tribolium castaneum and T. confusum

Publisher： Entomological Society of America

ISSN： 1938-2901

Source： Annals of the Entomological Society of America, Vol.57, Iss.1, 1964-01, pp. : 1-3

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Abstract

The ages at which female flour beetles may be fertilized and produce fertile eggs were determined for stocks maintained under laboratory conditions (29°C, 70% r.h.), on whole-wheat flour medium. Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) females are capable of being fertilized within 3 hours after eclosion and begin to lay fertile eggs at 96 to 108 hours of age. The corresponding ages for T. confusum (Jacquelin du Val) are 17 to 20, and 114 to 126 hours, respectively. The differences between the two species are more pronounced when the ages at which 50% of females reach sexual maturity are considered. The relationship of the results to the outcome of previous experiments on interspecific competition is discussed. This study indicates that collection of virgin females of T. castaneum for use in genetic linkage studies should be restricted to the pupal stage.