Studies on the degeneration of the flight muscles of alate aphids—II Histology and control of muscle breakdown

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Within a few days of settling down on a host plant, alate aphids of most species undergo a change in metabolism which becomes manifest in breakdown of the flight muscles, resumption of embryo development in the ovarioles, and hypertrophy of the fat body. In this paper an account is given of the histology of flight muscle breakdown, and experimental evidence is presented which suggests that the change in metabolism in the aphid is brought about by the secretion of a hormone. Muscle breakdown and fat body hypertrophy could be initiated in aphids in response to abnormal afferent stimuli, as when aphids were tied down on inert surfaces.