Juvenile hormone regulation of the left colleterial gland in intact and ovariectomized Blattella germanica (L.) (Dictyoptera: Blattellidae)

Abstract

The left colleterial glands of intact and ovariectomized females were shown to accumulate protein in response to juvenile hormone III. Their distal tubule diameter was highly correlated with their protein content. While intact females excreted the oöthecal proteins to produce an egg case, ovariectomized females retained these proteins without apparent loss from the gland. In overiectomized females the colleterial gland therefore became larger and contained more protein than in intact females. The size and protein content of the left colleterial gland of ovariectomized females were arrested after the insects were allatectomized, and both were induced by injections of synthetic juvenile hormone III. Thus, the left colleterial gland can be used as a cumulative record of circulating juvenile hormone within an individual ovariectomized female, much as the basal oöcytes are used in intact females, and it can be used to distinguish betwen females that had increased juvenile hormone synthesis and those that had not.