Is the rate of Embryonic development a predictor of overall development rate in Tanytarsus barbitarsis Freeman (Diptera: Chironomidae)?

Abstract

Mathematical relationships describing the effect of water temperature on embryonic development and generation time for Tanytarsus barbitarsis, a nuisance chironomid from salt lakes near Port Augusta, South Australia, were compared. The aim of the comparison was to determine whether the relation- ship describing egg hatching could be extrapolated to determine the overall development rate of the species. Results indicated that the power function that closely described embryonic development, D(t) = 8712.32t^-2.70, could not be fitted to the generation-time data. However, when an additional term, water salinity, was included, a highly significant relationship was derived: D(s,t)*=S^4.0308t^-4.471. This suggested that laboratory egg-hatching experiments could not account for the attenuating effect of environmental factors on overall development rates in the field.