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A POSSIBLE MECHANISM FOR THE REGULATION OF THE FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE CYCLE IN TENEBRIO MOLITOR (COLEOPTERA: TENEBRIONIDAE)1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

G. H. Gerber
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Abstract

Ventral nerve cord severence in newly emerged females of Tenebrio molitor L. resulted in a rate of oocyte production significantly higher than in normal, mated females and much higher than in intact virgins. This suggests that some nervous, inhibitory factor normally controls oocyte production. Mating partially suppresses this inhibitory mechanism, but the higher rate of oocyte production in females with severed nerve cords indicates that the inhibitory mechanism is exercising some control over oocyte production at all times. A sequence of events in the control of oocyte production in Tenebrio is proposed.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1967

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