Intrinsic rate of natural increase of an isochnoceran louse, Goniocotes jirufti (Ansari, 1947) (Phthiraptera: Insecta)

The ischnoceran lice, Goniocotes jirufti (Ansari, 1947) infesting the black partridge, Francolinus francolinus (Linnaeus, 1766) were reared in vitro condition (35 ± 1°C, 75-82% RH, at feather diet), to record the incubation period, adult longevity and daily egg rate. Obtained data from in vitro experimentation were used to construct the life table and was used to determine the intrinsic rate of natural increase (rm). The value of rm of aforesaid species was computed as 0.042. At this rate the doubling time of its population appeared to be 16.50 days. In comparison to the other species studied so far, G. jirufti (Ansari, 1947) seems to be a moderate breeder.

This paper is also published in ENTOMON, 45(2), 129–134. https://doi.org/10.33307/entomon.v45i2.521, https://www.entomon.in/index.php/Entomon/article/view/521