Ultrastructural and functional aspects of the spermatheca of the African Migratory Locust Locusta migratoria migratorioides (Reiche and Fairmaire) (Orthoptera: Acrididae)
01 Oct 1999-International Journal of Insect Morphology & Embryology (Pergamon)-Vol. 28, Iss: 4, pp 349-361
TL;DR: The ultrastructure of the spermathecal epithelium of the African Migratory Locust Locusta migratoria migratorioides was investigated with the aid of transmission and scanning electron microscopic methods.
Abstract: The ultrastructure of the spermathecal epithelium of the African Migratory Locust Locusta migratoria migratorioides R. & F. (Orthoptera: Acrididae) was investigated with the aid of transmission and scanning electron microscopic methods. The unpaired spermatheca can be subdivided into a multiple coiled tube and a terminal bulb region with vestibule, small apical and extensive pre-apical diverticulum. The wall of the spermatheca consists of a chitin intima, a layer of epithelial cells with a distinct apical microvilli border and a layer of gland cells, whereby slender projections of the epithelial cells extend between the gland cells. Through extensive folding, the basal plasma membrane of the gland and epithelial cells form a huge labyrinth, which is bounded by a basal lamina. Extending into the above mentioned projections there are bundles of parallel-arrayed microtubules, which run perpendicular to the microvilli border of the epithelial cell. They end in the base region of the microvilli and in the basal labyrinth on hemidesmosomes and serve to provide a mechanically stressable anchorage for the epithelium. The gland cells show structures typical for the production of export proteins: ribosomes, rER, dictyosomes, as well as vesicles of different size and electron-density. Every gland cell contains an extracellular cavity, arising through invagination, which is coated with a microvilli border. Over an end-apparatus and a ductule joining onto it (also with chitin intima) the lumen of the extracellular cavity is connected with the spermathecal lumen. The release of secretions and other substances from the epithelium into the spermatheca lumen is as possible as the uptake of substances from the latter into the epithelium. Regional differences in the fine structure of the cuticular intima, epithelial and gland cells point to different functions of the epithelium in these regions.
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TL;DR: The morphology of the egg and spermatheca is useful for classification, because they show a great diversity among species and genera.
Abstract: In this study, spermatheca and eggs of Pyrrhocoris apterus (Heteroptera: Pyrrhocoridae were examined by light microscope and SEM. The eggs have ~1.30 mm length and 0.94 mm width. Newly laid eggs turn from white to yellow as soon as embryonic differentiation. P. apterus egg surface shows polygonal (usually hexagonal and pentagonal) shapes. The eggs have pipe shaped 6-7 micropylar projections. The egg-burster which is a dark T-shaped or triangular pattern, explosive becomes visible when the embryo is well developed. The nimph, which has completed its embryonic development, comes out of the egg with peristaltic movements. The spermatheca of P. apterus consists of a bulb, a pump, a flange of pump, and duct. The morphology of the egg and spermatheca is useful for classification, because they show a great diversity among species and genera. Received: 08 Mar 2021 Accepted: 16 July 2021
01 Jan 2012
TL;DR: The spermatheca of C. putoni is characterized by a spherical spermethecal bulb, a pumping region, pump flanges and a genital chamber with associated sclerites as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Summary Spermatheca and eggs of Coptosoma putoni Montandon, 1898 were viewed with both light and scanning electron microscopes. The egg batch characteristically has two rows of spike-shaped eggs attached to substrate, with an anterior pole bearing aero-micropylar processes always turned outward. In an egg cluster there are 13-14 eggs that average 0.81 mm in length and 0:48 mm in width. Each side of the surface of the eggs is a slight falling away.The egg surface is covered with irregular chorionic protrusions as revealed by the scanning electron microscope. Micropyles (26-29) are arranged in a circle around the operculum. The spermatheca of C. putoni is characterized by a spherical spermathecal bulb, a pumping region, pump flanges, spermathecal duct and a genital chamber with associated sclerites.
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors compared the morphology, development, and secretory activity of the colleterial glands between non-and egg-laying females of the pest termite Coptotermes gestroi under light and transmission electron microscopy.
Abstract:
Colleterial glands of female insects are accessory glands responsible for producing secretions associated with egg-laying. Within Dictyoptera, they synthesize compounds of the ootheca. However, their morphology and role in termites are poorly understood. Here, we compared the morphology, development, and secretory activity of the colleterial glands between non- and egg-laying females of the pest termite Coptotermes gestroi under light and transmission electron microscopy. We also provide the first description of these glands for Rhinotermitidae. The glands are paired, divided into anterior and posterior units, which join in a common duct via basal trunks. They are highly developed within egg-laying females, especially the posterior gland, secreting glycoproteins to lubricate the genital chamber and/or stick the eggs together. Ultrastructure revealed glandular epithelia composed of bicellular units of Class 3, whose secretory activity varied between groups and units. Posterior gland of egg-laying females showed richness of mitochondria, rough endoplasmic reticulum, and secretory vesicles, including electron-dense secretory granules, indicating synthesis and transport of contents, especially proteins. The basal trunks were enfolded by muscles, supporting their role in conducting secretion. Morphophysiological modifications occur in the colleterial glands as females mature and lay eggs, and the mechanisms underlying the secretory cycle of the glands are discussed.
TL;DR: In this paper , the spermatheca and eggs of P. apterus were examined by light microscope and SEM, and the morphology of the eggs showed a great diversity among species and genera.
Abstract: In this study, spermatheca and eggs of Pyrrhocoris apterus (Heteroptera: Pyrrhocoridae were examined by light microscope and SEM. The eggs have ~1.30 mm length and 0.94 mm width. Newly laid eggs turn from white to yellow as soon as embryonic differentiation. P. apterus egg surface shows polygonal (usually hexagonal and pentagonal) shapes. The eggs have pipe shaped 6-7 micropylar projections. The egg-burster which is a dark T-shaped or triangular pattern, explosive becomes visible when the embryo is well developed. The nimph, which has completed its embryonic development, comes out of the egg with peristaltic movements. The spermatheca of P. apterus consists of a bulb, a pump, a flange of pump, and duct. The morphology of the egg and spermatheca is useful for classification, because they show a great diversity among species and genera.
TL;DR: In this article , the morphological structures of female reproductive system of Carpocoris mediterraneus, which has not been studied before, was investigated under light and electron microscopy.
Abstract: Carpocoris mediterraneus is a polyphagous vegetarian. Adult females of C. mediterraneus were collected in Aksu, Antalya, in June 2018. In this study, the morphological structures of female reproductive system of C. mediterraneus, which has not been studied before, was investigated under light and electron microscopies. The female reproductive system of C. mediterraneus was composed of a pair of ovaries, lateral oviducts, a common oviduct, accessory gland and spermatheca. Each ovary consisted of six telotrophic meroistic type ovarioles. Each ovariole consisted a terminal filament, germarium, vitellarium, and pedicel. In the germarium region, there was a trophic core, trophocytes, young oocytes and prefollicular cells. Vitellarium contained three oocytes at various stages of maturity (previtelogenesis, vitellogenesis, choriogenesis). The ovarioles were connected via pedicels to a pair of short lateral oviducts and subsequently to a common oviduct. The spermatheca of C. mediterraneus consisted a spermathecal bulb, a pumping region, the distal duct, dilation region, proximal duct and genital chamber. The spermathecal bulb was oval in shape and strongly chitinized. Its lumen typically contains a large number of spermatozoa.
References
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TL;DR: The present review is devoted to the exocrine glands derived from epidermis; glands associated with the preoral cavity (mandibular, salivary, etc) and genital apparatus are not dealt with except for the sake of comparison.
Abstract: The present review is devoted to the exocrine glands derived from epidermis; glands associated with the preoral cavity (mandibular, salivary, etc) and genital apparatus are not dealt with except for the sake of comparison. As defined, the epidermal glands manifest an exceptional diversity as far as location, morphology, and func tion are concerned. In the past, the studies were mainly anatomical, very rarely cytological, but the interest in insect glands was recently renewed by the chemical approach and the recognized importance of the secretions as far as behavior and physiology are concerned. Concurrently, the high resolution of the transmission electron microscope permitted a far more precise elucidation of the structures, with the hope of establishing some correlations between these structures and the func tions. Additionally, the scanning electron microscope appeared well suited for the examination of some cuticular differentiations.
716 citations
TL;DR: The structures described in regions of muscle attachment in Apterygota are similar to those recorded for other arthropods and appear to be cytoskeletal in function.
Abstract: In Apterygota muscles are attached to the cuticle by a series of discrete structures. The junction of the muscle and epidermal cells is demarcated by regular interdigitations of the two tissues, with desmosomes lining these processes. Within the epidermal cells, microtubules link up the desmosomes of the interdigitated region with dense material associated with cone-like depressions in the apical plasma membranes of the epidermal cells. Each of these ‘conical hemidesmosomes’ is situated opposite a pore canal. From within each cone, an electron-dense ‘muscle attachment fibre’ extends up the corresponding pore canal through the procuticle and is inserted on the epicuticle. There is no direct link between the microtubules and the muscle attachment fibres. The muscle attachment fibres are slightly elliptical in cross-section, and are twisted, this twist being in phase with the orientation of the chitin-protein microfibrils forming the lamellae of the procuticle. The attachment fibres are straight, and not helically arranged; patterns obtained in oblique sections of procuticle including these structures support the twisted ribbon model of pore canal shape. The cuticle, particularly in Thysanuran and Dipluran intersegmental membrane, displays the parabolic patterning typical of softer insect procuticle and procuticle deposition zones. The epicuticular insertion of the muscle attachment fibre is characterized by a pit in the cuticulin layer, the fibre passing through the middle of this pit. The microtubule-associated conical hemidesmosomes appear to be cytoskeletal in function. The muscle attachment fibres are rigid structures which are not digested by the moulting fluid enzymes. New muscle attachment fibres may only become attached to the epicuticle during its formation. The structures described in regions of muscle attachment in Apterygota are similar to those recorded for other arthropods.
131 citations
TL;DR: The detailed structure of the cockroach spermatheca is described and discussed firstly as an example of an insect integumentary gland, and secondly, from the standpoint of its role in reproduction.
Abstract: . The detailed structure of the cockroach spermatheca is described and discussed firstly as an example of an insect integumentary gland, and secondly, from the standpoint of its role in reproduction. The gland comprises a cortical rank of separate secretory units, each associated with an epithelial duct cell responsible for receiving secreted materials and transporting them through the cuticular intima lining the reproductive tract. Secretory activity is cyclic, and the probable mode of elaboration and release of secretory material is described, together with the fine structure of the markedly differing intimas associated respectively with the glandular and conducting units.
101 citations