摘要
This paper describes the embryonic development of the common cutworm Spodoptera litura （Fabricius） （Lepidoptera： Noctuidae） which is divided into eight embryonic stages, through variations in the egg＇s contents. Experiments were conducted on the eggs ofS. litura under laboratory conditions. The highest concentration of the protein （min.-max.： 32-! 40 lag/egg） and the lowest of the carbohydrate （min.-max.： 3.0-44.0 lag/egg） were obtained; similarly, the DNA content was smaller （min.-max.： 1.0-38.2 lag/egg） than the RNA （min.-max.： 9.2-360.0 lag/egg） throughout the embryogenesis. Three peaks of ecdysteroid titre were observed which were responsible for appearance of particular events during embryogenesis. The last highest peak of 400_＋33.4 lag/egg was appeared at 84 h after oviposition when larva was ready to hatch. Therefore, it is concluded that eight embryonic stages in S. litura were characterized by fluctuation in the egg＇s contents, which were responsible for gradual-progressive embryonic development. The egg-larval development did not show a normal distribution of embryonic developmental-time.
