In the present study, the incubation period ranged
from 18 to 24 days for different size groups of
females (Table 1). This is in agreement with Wickins
and Beard (1974) who reported that eggs ofM. rosenbergii were incubated for 20 days and
with Uno and Sao (1969) and Kanaujia, Mohanty,
Mitra and Prasad (2005) who demonstrated
longer period for incubation and embryonic development
(18–25 days) in M. rosenbergii. In this
respect, Prasad and Kanaujia (2006) recorded that
the incubation period in M. gangeticum was 12–
14 days, whereas in M. malcolmsonii it was 14–
17 days.