Mode of formation of the flight muscles in a butterfly Pieris brassicae

Abstract

The formation and development of the dorsal longitudinal flight muscles of the butterfly Pieris brassicae L have been studied by electron and light microscopy. These imaginal muscles arise from two symmetrical pairs of mesothoracic larval muscles, which are morphologically indistinguishable from the other wall muscles at the beginning of the 5th larval instar. However, 2 days before the end of this instar an accumulation of myoblasts is observed at the median region of these muscle fibres. The muscle fibres are penetrated by the myoblasts and broken into fragments. Progressive dedifferentiation of the larval fibrillar material in each of the muscle fragments is observed during the first days of the pupal development. The myoblasts within the basal lamina of the original larval muscle fibres remain associated with the muscle fragments. Myoblasts then fuse with the larval muscle fragments, which simultaneously fuse with each other. This results in the formation of rudimentary imaginal muscle fibres. The development of these fibres, particularly myofibrillogenesis, is studied until the emergence of the imago.