Oviposition of Delia antiqua (Diptera: Anthomyiidae) as Influenced by Substrate Holes and Particle Size

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Abstract
When presented with substrate ovipositional holes of varying depth and diameter, Delia antiqua (Meigen) laid the most eggs in holes larger than 4 mm deep and 0.6 mm diameter. Statistically equivalent numbers of eggs were laid in substrates of diverse particle sizes as long as they had pre-prepared optimally-sized ovipositional holes (8 mm deep, 1.0 mm diameter). This proved that substrate penetrability rather than particle size was the dominant factor in the acceptance of ovipositional substrates. Ovipositing females laid more eggs in ovipositional cups containing optimally sized holes than in standardized cups used previously, indicating that tactile stimuli are important in eliciting oviposition. Greater statistical differentiation between treatments was achieved when all sizes of ovipositional holes were presented around the same onion surrogate rather than individual sizes around different surrogates spaced widely apart, suggesting that experimental format strongly influenced acceptance of ovipositional sites by D. antiqua.