-83- 



percentage of females retaining eggs may simply reflect the stress of 

 captivity. The number of females retaining eggs in the laboratory 

 colony (after 13 generations) was much less and presumably 

 approximates what would be found in nature. Females that neither 

 deposited nor retained ova amounted to 3% of the catch in 1982 and 10% 

 in 1983. Whether this is evidence of possible gonotrophic 

 disassociation is only conjecture. Occurrence of the phenomenon to a 

 higher degree in the fall of the year is consistent with what has been 

 observed in other insects. 



Differences in preoviposition interval, postcapture longevity, and 

 postoviposition longevity were also probably due to improved handling 

 techniques in the second year when it was cooler (Table 2-4). 

 Comparison of preoviposition longevity of females captured with and 

 without blood meals (Table 2-4) reveals no significant differences, 

 suggesting that females captured with blood meals had recently fed and 

 that blood-fed females do not linger at the latrine resting stations 

 more than a few hours. 



At least 57% of the egg batches laid by wild-caught, blood-fed 

 females hatched. Since these females were not placed with males after 

 capture, it is obvious that at least this percentage of females were 

 inseminated prior to capture. Sperm were observed in the spermathecae 

 of many of the dissected females, but spermathecae were not always 

 visible in dissections. 



Accessory Glands and Parity 



According to Chapman (1971), accessory glands in most insects 

 arise from the genital chamber or vagina. Their function varies in 



