-160- 



some cultures containing a known number of larvae, individuals would 

 mysteriously disappear, possibly from cannibalism. On one occasion a 

 4th-instar larva was observed eating another 4th instar. The victim 

 was dead at the time, and it is not known if it was killed by the 

 other larva, or if it died from other causes. Ki 1 1 ick-Kendrick et al. 

 (1977) listed cannibalism as one of the factors contributing to 

 mortality in later instars of Lu. longipalpis , especially in cultures 

 that were underfed or contained large numbers of larvae. The pupa is 

 the most robust of all the immature stages, and losses have always 

 been very low. At present, about 99% give rise to adults, comparing 

 favorably with the 96% or greater reported in Lu. longipalpis colonies 

 (Ki 11 ick-Kendrick eta]..., 1977). 



In Lu. diabolica reared under current colony conditions of 

 27 + 1°C, 70 + 10% RH, 16:8 LD photoperiod and a diet of "gator 

 grits," 30% survival to the adult stage can be expected (70% 

 mortality). Accordingly, if we start with 35 gravid females 

 depositing an average of 28.9 eggs apiece, for a total of 1,000, 

 approximately 300 adult progeny will be produced, 55% males and 45% 

 females. The rate of increase per generation is calculated by 

 dividing the number of female progeny by the number of female parents, 

 and in this case it is 137/35 = 3.9. x per generation. 



Reliability of life tables is only as good as that of the basic 

 data used to construct them (Morris and Miller, 1954). If these data 

 are valid and rearing conditions are relatively constant, the table 

 may be used to predict the number of individuals that will be 

 available at a given point in the life cycle, or during a given 



