Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T21:28:58.588Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A method of age determination in Lucilia cuprina (Wied.) (Diptera, Calliphoridae) using cyclic changes in the female reproductive system

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

W. G. Vogt
Affiliation:
Division of Entomology, CSIRO, P.O. Box 1700, Canberra City, A.C.T. 2601, Australia
T. L. Woodburn
Affiliation:
Division of Entomology, CSIRO, P.O. Box 1700, Canberra City, A.C.T. 2601, Australia
Marina Tyndale-Biscoe
Affiliation:
Division of Entomology, CSIRO, P.O. Box 1700, Canberra City, A.C.T. 2601, Australia

Abstract

The stage of egg formation and density of follicular relics enable Lucilia cuprina (Wied.) females to be sorted into 16 ovarian stages, covering the period from emergence to the beginning of the fourth ovarian cycle. The correspondence between the actual age of a fly and its stage of ovarian development was determined at constant temperatures. Where developmental delays were absent, “reproductive age” gave reliable estimates of actual age under both constant and fluctuating temperature regimes. In the field protein shortages and lack of oviposition sites may prolong the time required to complete each ovarian cycle, and flies will be older than their ovaries would indicate. In practice the ovarian stages described provide estimates of minimum age for L. cuprina females.

Type
Original Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1974

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adams, T. S. & Mulla, M. S. (1967). The reproductive biology of Hippelates collusor (Diptera: Chloropidae). II. Gametogenesis.—Ann. ent. Soc. Am. 60, 11771182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, J. R. (1964). Methods for distinguishing nulliparous from parous flies and for estimating the ages of Fannia canicularis and some other cyclorraphous Diptera.—j Ann. ent. Soc. Am. 57, 226236.Google Scholar
Christopher, S. R. (1911). The development of the egg follicle in anophelines.—Paludism no. 2, 7388.Google Scholar
Clift, A. D. (1972). The nutritional and endocrine control of reproduction of the Australian sheep blowfly, Lucilia cuprina (Wied.). Ph.D. thesis, University of Sydney.Google Scholar
Clift, A. D. & McDonald, F. J. D. (in press). Morphology of the internal reproductive system of Lucilia cuprina (Wied.) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) and a method for determining the age of both sexes.—Int. J. Insect Morphol. Embryol.Google Scholar
Detinova, T. S. (1962). Age-grouping methods in Diptera of medical importance, with special reference to some vectors of malaria.—Monograph Ser. W.H.O. 47, 216 pp.Google ScholarPubMed
Giolioli, M. E. C. (1965). The problem of age determination in Anopheles melas Theo. 1903 by Polovodova's method.—Cah. off. scient, tech. Outre-Mer (Ent. méd.) 34, 155157.Google Scholar
Mer, G. G. (1936). Experimental study on the development of the ovary in Anopheles elutus Edw. (Dipt. Culic.).—Bull. ent. Res. 27, 351359.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, T. A. & Treece, R. E. (1968). Gonadotrophic cycles in the face fly, Musca autumnalis. —Ann. ent. Soc. Am. 61, 690696.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosay, B. (1969). Anatomical indicators for assessing age of mosquitoes: changes in ovarian follicles.—Ann. ent. Soc. Am. 62, 605611.Google Scholar
Saunders, D. S. (1962). Age determination for female tsetse flies and the age compositions of samples of Glossina pallipides Aust., G. palpalis fuscipes Newst. and G. brevipalpis Newst.—Bull. ent. Res. 53, 579595.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, T. A. (1968). Comparison of known age with physiological aging in the adult female housefly, Musca domestica L.—J. Med. ent. 5, 14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tyndale-Biscoe, M. & Hughes, R. D. (1969). Changes in the female reproductive system as age indicators in the bushfly Musca vetustissima Wlk.—Bull. ent. Res. 59, 129141.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tyndale-Biscoe, M. & Kitching, R. L. (1974). Cuticular bands as age criteria in sheep blowfly Lucilia cuprina.—Bull. ent. Res. 64, 161174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar