The Composition of Ribonucleic Acid in Several Holometabolous Insects

Abstract

RNA base ratios were determined in larvae representing four holometabolous Orders: The hide beetle ( Dermestes maculatus DeGeer) (Coleoptera) ; the greater wax moth ( Galleria mellonella (L.)) (Lepidoptera) ; a blow fly, Calliphora vicina R.D. and the house fly ( Musca domestica L.) (Diptera) ; and the honey bee ( Apis mellifera L.) (Hymenoptera). Guanine and cytosine predominated in all the insects except the two flies. A change in base ratios occurred as a result of metamorphosis in the hide beetle and the house fly. Apparently insect RNA's are not all of one general type and they may differ in the larvae and adults of a particular species.