Corpora Cardiaca-Allata Complex of the Larvae of the Pink Bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella. An Ultrastructural Study in Relation to Diapause

Abstract

Raina, A. K., Borg, T. K. 1980. Corpora cardiaca-allata complex of the larvae of the pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella. An ultrastructural study in relation to diapause. (Department of Entomology, North Dakota State University of South Carolina, School of Medicine, Columbia, U.S.A.) — Acta zool. (Stockh.) 61(2): 65–77. The corpora cardiaca (CC) and corpora allata (CA) of the pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella, were studied at the ultrastructural level during induction maintenance, and termination of larval diapause. The CC is composed of 5–6 intrinsic secretory (IS) cells, glial cells, and axons that carry electron dense (ED) and electron lucent (EL) granules from the brain. The IS cells produce ED granules with an average diameter of 110 ± 26 nm. During diapause, the axons with ED granules showed large accumulations of neurosecretory granules, but the axons with the EL granules contained lesser amounts. The CA is made up of approximately 25 large cells and axons that pass through the CC from the brain. Most of the axons take up a peripheral position. A characteristic feature of CA cells during diapause was the presence of stacks of convoluted tubules of the smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER) that may be associated with juvenile hormone synthesis. The IS cells of the CC appeared to be inactive during diapause.