Étude Expérimentale De L'Influence Des Facteurs Externes (Température Et Photopériode) Sur Le Cycle De Reproduction Du Crustacé Oniscoide Porcellionides Pr Uinosus (Brandt) Provenant De Populations Africaine (Togo) Et Européenne (France)

Abstract

In contrast to many other species of Oniscoidea, the initiation of reproduction of African (Togo) and European (France) females of Porcellionides pruinosus is independant from the photoperiod. However, there are differences between these two populations as far as female reproductive activity is concerned. With females from France, like in females of the other European Oniscoid species, the reproductive activity is stimulated by long day lengths. In African females, on the other hand, the reproductive activity is more intense under short day lenths. In both populations, the disappearance of the seasonal breeding periods, both in nature and in the laboratory, is probably related to the weakness of their reactions to photoperiodic variations.