kamakiri
Well-known member
Since I'm in the process of burying myself in ooths this season, I've had a chance to see what appears to generally affect when a female will lay. My limited experience with just a handful of species points out some possible differences in triggers, and certainly different timing. Of course, different ooth sizes should take different times and intervals. I'd like to explore the reasons.
As a process, I think these are some of the events that make ooth laying possible:
1. Start of oogenesis
The difficult part of this phase is that we can't really observe when it starts. It is my feeling that when most females are fed, that they will make and store eggs to capacity. I suspect this may not be true of ghosts, which I am guessing make the eggs after mating. More on that later.
2. Time and energy for oogenesis
It is fairly well known that larger species that make larger ooths take longer intervals than smaller species and smaller or fewer egg oothecae. For species I am currently keeping the numbers vary from 150+ (S.limbata) down to 5 or so (P. virescens) and even individual eggs (I. oratoria). It appears that ovaries have a relatively fixed capacity for production. Given enough food, this should be able to be expressed as eggs per day average. Based on the hatchings and intervals, it appears S. limbata should be making roughly 4-7 eggs per day and P. virescens roughly 2-3.
Examples that support oogenesis beforehand are that an older heavier unmated female can lay the next day after mating. I have seen this happen with both S. limbata and P. virescens. Conversely, a younger thin female, can still be mated, but will not lay until adult for more than the typical interval before laying. Otherwise, the time to lay fertile oothecae from adulthood is relatively consistent for a given species.
3. Mating and availability of sperm
We know that some species will still lay ooths even if not mated and not parthenogenic. It seems that laying such an infertile ooth is done so out of necessity. If a female makes eggs even unmated, then there will come a time that she is not able to store any more, and is essentially purging to make room for the eggs to come.
I believe mating is a possible trigger to oogenesis, as I suspect with ghosts based on the interval observed on two specimens after mating. The two did not lay infertile ooths, though well fed and relatively fat. I'll have to study that further with ghosts, or perhaps someone with more experience with them could chime in. Or if there examples of ghosts making infertile ooths. Otherwise, it may just be that the females can store eggs for a limited time. But there appears to be a strategy to hold-off from infertile laying as long as possible, since the time to lay infertile is usually longer than the typical interval. Refusal of food may preclude continuous oogenesis and may further this strategy.
Please chime in with your thoughts and examples.
As a process, I think these are some of the events that make ooth laying possible:
1. Start of oogenesis
The difficult part of this phase is that we can't really observe when it starts. It is my feeling that when most females are fed, that they will make and store eggs to capacity. I suspect this may not be true of ghosts, which I am guessing make the eggs after mating. More on that later.
2. Time and energy for oogenesis
It is fairly well known that larger species that make larger ooths take longer intervals than smaller species and smaller or fewer egg oothecae. For species I am currently keeping the numbers vary from 150+ (S.limbata) down to 5 or so (P. virescens) and even individual eggs (I. oratoria). It appears that ovaries have a relatively fixed capacity for production. Given enough food, this should be able to be expressed as eggs per day average. Based on the hatchings and intervals, it appears S. limbata should be making roughly 4-7 eggs per day and P. virescens roughly 2-3.
Examples that support oogenesis beforehand are that an older heavier unmated female can lay the next day after mating. I have seen this happen with both S. limbata and P. virescens. Conversely, a younger thin female, can still be mated, but will not lay until adult for more than the typical interval before laying. Otherwise, the time to lay fertile oothecae from adulthood is relatively consistent for a given species.
3. Mating and availability of sperm
We know that some species will still lay ooths even if not mated and not parthenogenic. It seems that laying such an infertile ooth is done so out of necessity. If a female makes eggs even unmated, then there will come a time that she is not able to store any more, and is essentially purging to make room for the eggs to come.
I believe mating is a possible trigger to oogenesis, as I suspect with ghosts based on the interval observed on two specimens after mating. The two did not lay infertile ooths, though well fed and relatively fat. I'll have to study that further with ghosts, or perhaps someone with more experience with them could chime in. Or if there examples of ghosts making infertile ooths. Otherwise, it may just be that the females can store eggs for a limited time. But there appears to be a strategy to hold-off from infertile laying as long as possible, since the time to lay infertile is usually longer than the typical interval. Refusal of food may preclude continuous oogenesis and may further this strategy.
Please chime in with your thoughts and examples.
