Life history characteristics of Wyeomyia smithii from New Jersey

We colonized Wyeomyia smithii (Coquillett) from southern New Jersey and studied life history characteristics in the laboratory. Males and females showed no significant difference in time spent from first to third instar, but female larvae remained in fourth instar 2.1 days longer than males. At 22 +/- 2 degrees C females emerged 22.6 +/- 3 days after egg hatch; males emerged approximately two days earlier. Male emergence peaked five hours after dawn; females showed a trend to emerge late in the day. Rotation of male terminalia was completed 9 to 11 hours after emergence. Females were capable of mating immediately after emergence. Wyeomyia smithii females laid their first egg batch four to six days after emergence. Females were capable of laying up to seven batches of eggs, however the mean number of eggs per oviposition decreased significantly as the number of oviposition cycles increased.