Does cuticular elasticity regulate the size of the blood meal imbibed by female Glossina austeni?

Abstract

In tsetse flies, a larva grows to maturity inside the uterus of the female. The size of the blood meal imbibed by females is known to increase at ovulation and decrease as the larva gets larger, so that the total volume of the fly remains constant. This has led to the hypothesis that meal size is determined by cuticular elasticity. Direct measurement of the elasticity of abdominal cuticle in mated females, before and after ovulation, and in virgin females, which do not ovulate, demonstrates that cuticular elasticity is unrelated to ovulation. Further, meal size is not closely correlated with cuticular elasticity. The hypothesis is therefore rejected.