Development and reproductive performance of Brontocoris tabidus (Signoret) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) fed with Musca domestica L. (Diptera: Muscidae) larvae was evaluated. Duration of the nymphal phase of this predator was 31.2 days, with a 44.1% survival rate. Preoviposition and egg incubation periods and number of eggs/egg mass were 8.14 days, 5.6 days, and 45.4, respectively. B. tabidus pre...

We collected 20 checkered keelback snakes (Xenochrophis piscator) to study embryonic growth and mobilization of energy and material during incubation. Females laid eggs between late May and late June. The eggs were incubated at 27 degrees C (+/-0.3). One egg from each clutch was dissected at five-day intervals starting at oviposition. The mean incubation length at 27 degrees C was 48.9 days. We...

Contact incubation of eggs is one of the most conspicuous features of avian biology. Its purpose is the maintenance of a warm and steady egg temperature, and during incubation, the parent bird undergoes remarkable changes in its behaviour and physiology, all seemingly directed to meeting this need. For example, the pectoral skin of incubating birds, commonly the female, but in some instances th...

During ovipositioning, avian eggshells become susceptible to bacterial and fungal growth and studies have shown that a community of these microorganisms, or microflora, is maintained on eggshells throughout the incubation process. To determine the possible role of these microorganisms on embryonic development, it is first important to understand the composition of the microbial community presen...

Embryonic growth and development are impacted by environmental conditions. In avian systems, parents tightly control these environments through provisioning of nutrients to the egg and through incubation. Parents can influence embryonic development through egg size, eggshell conductance, hormones, or other substances deposited in eggs and through the onset and temperature of incubation. In addi...

Effects of maternal hormones may adaptively adjust offspring development to prevailing conditions. However, Darwinian fitness of parents is maximized by investing in more than one offspring while each individual offspring benefits from receiving maximal investment. The control of mother and offspring over hormone-mediated maternal effects is thought to play a key role in the outcome of parent-o...

The research investigates the effects of prolonged storage of hatching eggs on eggshell conductance (G) and embryonic metabolism of Ross 308 broiler breeder eggs. Hatching eggs were collected, weighed and stored for 10 days. After 10 days, a second group of eggs was collected as in the first, weighed and stored for additional 4 days to set up two pre-incubation storage treatments (4 days and 14...

In birds, parents adjust their feeding behaviour according to breeding duties, which ultimately may lead to seasonal adjustments in nutritional physiology and hematology over the breeding season. Although avian physiology has been widely investigated in captivity, few studies have integrated individual changes in feeding and physiological ecology throughout the breeding season in wild birds. To...

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of in ovo injection (IOI) of calcium carbonate nano-particles (CCN) on post-hatch bone and blood parameters and performance of broiler chickens. Fertile eggs (n=400) were distributed into 4 groups of 100 eggs. On the first day of incubation, 2 groups were injected with 0.5 mL of either 100 or 200 ppm CCN/egg dissolved in normal saline and two...

Individuals of different quality may have different investment strategies, shaping responses to experimental manipulations, thereby rendering the detection of such patterns difficult. However, previous clutch-size manipulation studies have infrequently incorporated individual differences in quality. To examine costs of incubation and reproductive investment in relation to changes in clutch size...