The segregation of the germ cells in the grasshopper, Melanoplus differentialis (acrididae; orthoptera)

Abstract

AbstractThe segregation of the germ cells is related in time and differentiation to the ectoderm (ventral plate), the inner germ‐band layer (lower layer) and the mesenteron (entoderm) rudiments. The inner germ‐band layer is formed by invagination of cells from a median blastoporic groove and by cellular proliferations among the invaginating cells and from the median line of the ectoderm immediately caudad of the blastoporic groove. The mesenteron material is derived from inner germ‐band layer material associated with the internal ends of the stomodaeum and proctodaeum. The germ cells are segregated from the lateral margins of the abdominal lobe ectoderm in the region of the amnion attachment as segmentation of the abdominal lobe is initiated. They ultimately become separated from the ectoderm cells of the lateral wall and from the amnion and migrate in a passive manner onto the coelomic sacs where they become associated with the inner walls of the sacs. When the coelomic sacs unite the germ cells and the splanchnic wall mesoderm cells form two continuous cell strands from the first to the eighth abdominal segments, inclusive. These strands form the indifferent genital rudiments. An endeavor is made to correlate the segregation of the germ cells in the grasshopper with that of various other insects.