Adult Life Span in Habrobracon serinopae after X-irradiation during Early Development

Abstract

WHEN adults of the wasp, Habrobracon serinopae, were exposed to ionizing radiation, there was a decrease in life span with increasing dose. In addition, diploid males were more resistant than haploid males. This same pattern for adult life span and ploidy was found after irradiation of larval and pupal stages¹. We have asked whether this pattern exists for all stages of development and therefore have determined the adult life span of ploidy types after X-irradiation of early embryos during the cleavage stage. During the adult stage in holometabolous insects, somatic cell division is absent. During the cleavage stage, however, nuclei are rapidly dividing. These differences have allowed us to compare the radiation sensitivity of a stage in which there is active nuclear mitosis with one in which there is no somatic cell mitosis. The pattern of radiation sensitivity was different for the cleavage stage of development than for the post-embryonic and adult stages in Habrobracon juglandis².