Two kinds of blood-meal were assayed in order to broaden the knowledge of the biology of Dipetalogaster maximus: one group of insects was fed on normal mouse blood (C) and another group fed on pigeon blood (P). Both groups were kept in a B.O.D. - chamber (28ºC and 65% R.H.). Significant data concerning their development was registered: the group fed on C reached the adult stage in X = 130,1 days and the group fed on P in X = 145,6 days. Mortality of group fed on P, (63,71%) was doubled that of group fed on C (31,18%). The period of survival, as measured by resistance to starvation, was markedly greater in group fed on C, particularly in the third, fourth and fifth stages. These observations complete our former records of this species, kept under the same conditions of female fertility, egg vialbility and comparative mortality and fertility rates.
Dipetalogaster maximus; blood meal influence; biological cycle; resistance to starvation