Variability in Fecundity and Plasticity of Oviposition Behavior in Anagasta kuehniella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)

Abstract

Egg production in the Mediterranean flour moth, Anagasta kuehniella (Zeller), depends not only on its fecundity but also on such factors as successful mating and the presence of interstices in which an isolated female can deposit up to 50% of her eggs. Fecundity is correlated with the weight of the female larva when it spins its cocoon. Another source of variation, which could mask the previous one, is the reduction of male mating capacity caused by prolonged exposure of male larvae to a constant 10°C, the temperature commonly used in mass rearing. Low temperatures do not alter oogenesis, fecundity, or oviposition behavior, but in some cases they can modify egg productivity. Females preferentially deposit their eggs in fissures or interstices, but the behavior varied considerably in the studied strain; the variation is not genetically controlled. However, under laboratory conditions, this ethological character can modify the effectiveness of egg parasitoids or predators.