Abstract
The females of the bandicoot rat (Bandieota bengalensis) living in the croplands of the central Punjab remained reproductively quiescent from Now)mber through February. The smallest El exu. ally mature males weighed 100+0 gin and measured 14.7 cm long, -whereas the smallest visibly pregnant. females weighed and measu-red 120.1 gni and 16.2 cm, respectively. The annual rate of Pregnancy varied greatly; the average for three years being 47.36%. The mean embryonic litter size was 7.40 (3-11) ± .512 (27). The annual production rate was 75.18 young/female. The proportion of adults, subadults, and juvenilcsin the pooled samples of three years averaged 76,80, 16.02, and 7.18%; the annual variations being the least with ri-spect to the adults and maximum with respect to the juveniles. The ratio of the two sexes was in favour of the males (1 : 0.69 (181):x2 -6.016;p<05).
INTRODUCTION
The bandicoot rat (Bandicota benyaietoi8) is endemic to the Oriental Region and is found virtually throughout the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent. It is known to inflict heavy damage to the rice crop in lower Sind since long (Wale, 1927). But, its ecology as a pest of agriculture has been investigated only recently. Sagar and Bindra (1971), Graves et at. (1975), Bindra and Sagar (1977), Chakraborty (1977), Durairaj and Guruprasad (1977), Smiet et al. (1980) Fulk et al. (1981) and Beg et al. (1977, 1979, 19S0, 1981, 1983) have studied the reproduction, population structure, and food habits of outdoor populations of the rat inhabiting the agricultural fields. But the principal studies of the species, Spillett (1968) and Frantz (1973),deal with the reproduction and *Part of Ph, D. Thesis of senior author, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. **Department of Zoology and Fisheries, University of Agriculture; Faisalabad.
Akbar A. Khan , Mirza A.Beg. (1984) Reproduction and structure of a Bandicota bengalensis population in an agro-ecosystem, Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Sciences, Volume 21, Issue 1,2.
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