Are there major degenerative changes in the flight muscle of ageing diptera?

Abstract

A comparative study of three different Dipteran species has been made to clarify the conflicting reports about major degenerative changes occurring in the ultrastructure of insect flight muscle with age. Although enlargement of myofibrils and mitochondria (due to protein synthesis and mitochondrial fusion) occurs with increasing age, no major degenerative changes in flight muscle ultrastructure were observed, as previously reported by some authors, except for the increasing incidence of mitochondrial “whorls”, first reported by Sacktor and Shimada (1972) in Phormia regina. Possible causes for the differences in the reports are discussed.