Abstract
Biological observations were made on Cephalonomia gallicola (Ashmead), a bethylid wasp which is causative of sting dermatitis in houses, under laboratory conditions (70% R. H., 16L 8D at various temperatures) with host insects, mature larvae of Lasioderma sericorne Fabricius, and a discussion was devoted to the potentialities of injurious pest in the wasp. The observations on adult wasps were made at a temperature of 26℃ and the experiments on development were conducted at various temperatures within a range of 15-40℃. The results are summarized as in the following. The pre-oviposition period was 4.9 days in mated female and 25.8 days in unmated females. The ovarian eggs remained immature in teneral females. In the unmated females the number of mature eggs remaind 5-6 in their ovaries during the long preoviposition period. The width of head capsule in adult females decreased with increased number of eggs in the cases in which the number of eggs on a host was more than 5. The females reared with constant supply of fresh hosts had laid 4.4 eggs on a host at intervals of 2.1 days, and survived a long period of 94 days. The wasps reared without host supply did a shorter period of 10-20 days. The females did not lay their eggs at the temperatures below 15℃ and above 40℃. The threshold temperature for development was determined as 15.8℃ in the two sexes, and the total effective temperature for development as 240.4 day-degrees in females and 227.3 day-degrees in males. The above findings appear to make the species suited for the continued existence under some detrimental conditions and for rapid growing of house-haunting populations under some appropriate conditions, showing that the species is of synovigenic type in the regulation of ovulation and egg disposal.
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