title: Relationships among body size, blood meal size, egg volume, and egg production of Tabanus fuscicostatus (Diptera: Tabanidae).
abstract: Number of ovarioles, egg production, and weight of unfed and bloodfed Tabanus fuscicostatus Hine females were related linearly to wing length. Wing length did not change whether flies were freshly thawed, preserved in formalin solution, or oven dried. Left and right wings were similar in length. The length from the costa to the anterior cross vein or to the intersection of R4 and R5 veins was associated linearly to wing length. The number of eggs produced by flies bloodfed on one or two bovine hosts was similar when adjusted by wing length. The average number of ovarioles per female was 277 +/- 50 (+/- SD), and eggs developed in only 63% of the ovarioles after a bloodmeal. An estimated 3.1 eggs were produced for each milligram of blood ingested by a fly, and the average bloodmeal size was 110% of the unfed weight of the flies (49.7 mg). Egg volume was unrelated to body size, but was associated inversely with the number of eggs produced per female.
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Baton Rouge 70803.
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Leprince
authors.forename: L D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Foil
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001769:Blood; D001824:Body Constitution; D002417:Cattle; D004175:Diptera / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D010058:Oviposition; D010063:Ovum / Q000502:physiology; D014921:Wings, Animal / Q000033:anatomy & histology