Oogenesis in Eucorethra underwoodi (Diptera: Chaoboridae)

Females of Eucorethra underwoodi Underwood (Diptera: Chaoboridae) are autogenous and exhibit marked ovarian precocity, deposition of yolk in the terminal ovarian follicles beginning during the pupal stage. The picture of ovarian staging in the young female is complex — a mix of maturing follicles, regressing follicles, and apparently healthy, partially developed follicles, perhaps in a “holding pattern”, suggesting that asynchronous first-cycle oogenesis may be the norm in this species. In the ovarioles of gravid females, penultimate follicles are extensively yolked and the fatbody remains ample, suggesting the possibility of more than a single cycle of autogenous oogenesis.