HORMONAL MECHANISM OF GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT IN SPODOPTERA LITTORALIS BOISDUVAL (NOCTUIDAE)

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Abstract
In a previous study on the cotton leafworm, Spodoptera littoralis Boisduval, (El-Ibrashy, 1971) it was suggested that the corpus allatum may control development by controlling secretion in the ecdysial gland. Metamorphosis into pupae is deferred if allatectomy is performed on newly ecdysed 6th-instar larvae, whereas allatectomy in newly ecdysed 5th-instar larvae shortens larval life and produces precocious dwarf pupae incapable of developing into adults. It has long been suggested that larval life in many insects could be shortened by complete starvation at the beginning of the last instar, whereas semi-starvation prolongs larval life (cf. Bodenstein, 1953). El-Ibrashy & Mansour (1970) have suggested that chemicals with apparent hormonal action on the growth rate of larvae of the greasy cutworm Agrotis ypsilon may act by changing the amount of food consumed. We therefore investigated whether the food intake of S. littoralis larvae alters in relation to the growth rate after allatectomy in

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