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EFFECT OF PHOTOPERIOD ON OVARIAN FUNCTION IN THE VOLE, MICROTUS AGRESTIS

It has been shown that photoperiod affects the reproductive development of the vole, Microtus agrestis, the ovaries and uteri weighing more in laboratory-simulated summer than in laboratory-simulated winter (Clarke & Kennedy, 1967). Photoperiod has a similar effect on ovarian function in M. arvalis (Lecyk, 1962; Thibault, Courot, Martinet, Mauléon, du Mesnil du Buisson, Ortavant, Pelletier & Signoret, 1966). In order to define more accurately the influence of light on the sexual development of M. agrestis, the effect of six different photoperiods on the onset of puberty and on ovarian activity in virgin voles after 8 weeks of treatment was investigated.

The experimental animals were the progeny of a breeding colony kept in the Department of Agricultural Science at Oxford. Females, 18 days old, were placed in light-proof cupboards (see Clarke & Kennedy, 1967) and subjected