Fine structure of the foveae dorsales and foveal glands in the female tick Amblyomma americanum (acari: Ixodoidea: Ixodidae).

Abstract

The fine structure of the paired foveae dorsales and foveal glands in the unfed female Amblyomma americanum is described and compared with that in other tick species. Each fovea opens to the exterior via pores which lead internally into a single cuticular tube, the pore-tube. This is surrounded by 2-3 epithelial cells. The pore-tube enlarges basally forming a large cavity possessing a cup-shaped cytoplasmic protrusion. The pore-tube cuticular lining extends downward to form an electron-dense, flaplike protrusion bracketing narrow cytoplasmic extensions filled with microtubules. These extensions form a previously undescribed valvelike structure that seems to control the flow of pheromone secretion from the foveal gland to the pore-tube. The single foveal gland lying beneath each pore-tube is composed of 2-3 inner, large, storage cells surrounded by outer, spindle-shaped cells; both types of cells have a characteristic feature of epithelia involved in secretory activity and ion transport. The outer cells extend upward to join the base of the poretube cells by septate desmosomes. A nerve, the foveal nerve, containing axons with neurosecretory vesicles occurs in the vicinity of the foveal gland. The secretory activity of the pheromone glands seems to be partially, if not entirely, under a neural regulation.