THE ENDOCRINE GLANDS CORPORA ALLATA AND CORPORA CARDIACA OF MOSQUITOS (FAM. CULICIDAE),
Abstract
The endocrine glands corpora allata and the glands were investigated in three mosquito species from the family Culicidae: the bloodsucking malaria mosquitos Anopheles maculipennis and A. bifurcatus and the non-bloodsucking mosquito Chaoborus crystallinus. In all three of the studied mosquito species, larval endocrine glands which degenerate in the imago were found. It is believed that the glands are found within the entire order of the Diptera. The large larval cells of the corpora cardiaca differ sharply in terms of their structure in the two genera, Anopheles and Chaoborus, both in dimension and also for a number of other features. On the basis of the histological changes observed in the large larval cells of the corpora cardiaca in the diapausing larvae of A. bifurcatus, in comparison with the active larvae, it is assumed that the larval diapause of A. bifurcatus is caused by the absence of a hormone of the large larval cells of the corpora cardiaca and that consequently the large larval cells of the corpora cardiaca in mosquitos, as in the higher flies, stimulate metamorphosis. The data from a comparative histological study of the corpora allata make it possible to advance the opinion that in both Anopheles and in the Chaoborus the corpora allata stimulate the maturation of the ovaries. The diapause of mosquitos is controlled evidently by different hormones depending upon at what developmental phase it begins. A knowledge of insect endocrinology can therefore facilitate the combatting of harmful insects. For this reason, the periods for the most effective combatting should be set separately for each pest species, proceeding, in particular, from the data of endocrinology. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 12, 1968
- Accession Number
- AD0678125
Entities
People
- M. V. Mednikova
Organizations
- United States Army Biological Warfare Laboratories