Objective Clarify the developmental period from emergence to sexual maturity, and the effects of feeding and mating on the ovary development of female adults.

Method In this study, the mature larvae of M. saltuarius were collected and reared in the laboratory till adult emerged. The one-day-old female adults were treated by four ways: 1) reared alone without being fed, 2) fed alone, 3) fed together with male adults, 4) reared together with male adults without being fed. The ovaries of female adults were continuously dissected every day until wilting or death of female adult ovaries was observed.

Result The results showed that: 1) The ovarian development process of M. saltuarius was divided into five stages. 2) The ovaries of female adults of the unfed M. saltuarius stopped developing after reaching the second stage. 3) The ovaries of fed and mated female adults matured on the 14th day, and the ovaries of fed but unmated female adults matured on the 17th day.

Conclusion It can be seen that the ovaries of the adult females of M. saltuarius need to be fed before their ovaries develop to maturity normally. In addition, the mating promote the development of ovariy, shorten the developmental process by three days.