The medial neurosecretory cells and egg maturation in mosquitoes

Abstract

When the medial neurosecretory cells (mnc) were surgically removed from aedine mosquitoes immediately after emergence, egg maturation was suppressed. In older females mnc-ablation had little effect. Ablation did not interfere with ingestion or absorption of a blood meal.In blood-fed Aedes taeniorhynchus, arrest of egg development by mnc-ablation was reversed by transplantation of 1 pair of mnc from an anaesthetized donor. In sugar-fed A. taeniorhynchus, 4 pairs of mnc were required to restore autogenous egg maturation. In blood-fed hosts, male or female Aedes or female Culex were equally effective as donors. If the donor was killed, rather than anaesthetized, 4 pairs of mnc were needed to restore egg development.Both the mnc and the corpora allata are essential for egg maturation in mosquitoes. However, transplanted mnc could not restore egg development arrested by allatectomy, and transplanted corpora allata could not restore egg development arrested by mnc-ablation. Consequently, the corpora allata and the mnc regulate different processes in egg maturation.