226 
Psyche 
[December 
Effect of partial and complete starvation on receptivity after removing 
the oothecae from the uteri 
The time taken for return of receptivity, after the ootheca is 
removed from the uterus, varies with the length of the gestation 
period at the time of removal of the egg case ( figs. 1 1 , 12). The 
effect of partial and complete inanition on return of receptivity 
following removal of the ootheca is shown in table 7. Females fed 
for 10- 11, 24-26, and 31-32 days before having their oothecae 
removed behaved like control females that were fed lab chow 
continuously. However, only 45% of the females fed for 5-6 days 
only, mated. There was a marked drop in the number of females 
that mated (36-52%) in all 4 groups of females starved during 
the entire experimental period. The females that were fed for only 
5-6 days behaved like completely starved females. Regardless of 
the extent of feeding or starvation, time taken to mate after removing 
the oothecae was similar or only slightly delayed in females starved 
during the entire experiment. The lengths of the oocytes of the 
females that did not mate, in the groups with 52% or less receptive, 
are shown in table 8. The oocytes, in practically all of these non- 
receptive females, were undeveloped and lacked yolk. 
Effect of starvation and mating , following parturition , on oocyte 
development in females fed during gestation 
Females of N. cinerea fed during gestation were fed or starved 
after giving birth. These females were not mated again, and the 
time taken to oviposit was determined. The results in table 9 show 
that the average number of days taken to oviposit was about the 
same for both groups (8.5 and 9.2 days for the fed and starved 
groups, respectively). However, 13% of the starved females took 
1 1.5 - 15 days, whereas only 1% of the fed group required 11.5 days 
to oviposit and none took longer. Starvation following parturition 
had only a slight or no effect on the rate of oocyte development if 
females were fed ad libitum during gestation. Females that mated 
after parturition and were either fed or starved during their second 
preoviposition period did not oviposit sooner than comparably treated 
nonmated females (table 9) ; in fact, the mated females took slightly 
longer to oviposit. Thus, when females have access to food during 
the entire gestation period, the oocytes mature at a rapid rate if fed 
or starved after parturition and an additional mating after the 
female gives birth does not affect this rate of development. The 
