Post-radiation recovery of adult insects

The viability of adult rice weevils irradiated with 3900 R (LD/sub 50/25/ ) was not affected by starvation for 1 day before or 1 day after the irradiation, but 2 days' starvation (1 before and 1 after) markedly decreased the viability of the insects. The irradiated insects had no dividing cells in the somatic organs. The recovery apparently reflects processes leading to normalization of the function of the cells that were irradiated. (TTT)