Capsule Length Research Articles

Molecular and morphological analysis of Henneguya jundiai n. sp. (Cnidaria: Myxosporea), a new parasite of the gills of Rhamdia quelen in Brazil

Plasmodia containing spores of a new species of myxozoan, Henneguya jundiai n. sp., were found in the gill arches of Rhamdia quelen catfish. The present study describes H. jundiai n. sp. based on morphological and molecular analysis. The mature spores were elongated and measured 26.9 ± 1.9 (22.9–29.2) μm in total spore length, 9.5 ± 0.4 (8.8–10.0) μm in spore body length, 4.6 ± 0.4 (4.1–5.5) μm in spore body width, 17.3 ± 1.8 (14.1–19.8) μm in tail length, 4.9 ± 0.3 (4.6–5.5) μm in polar capsule length and 1.4 ± 0.2 (1.2–1.7) μm in polar capsule width. The polar filaments had 6–7 coils. Histological analysis revealed the formation of a large plasmodium connected to the gill arch through the epithelial tissue. Ultrastructural analysis revealed the presence of a binucleated sporoplasm, as well as the polar capsules and the coils of the polar filament. Phylogenetic analysis found that H. jundiai n. sp. is located within a subclade formed by species of Henneguya which parasitize siluriform fish from Brazil. Henneguya jundiai n. sp. appears as a sister species of H. quelen. The results of the analyzes clearly indicated the existence of a new species, H. jundiai.

Comparative capsule and seed morphology of Polygala L. (Polygalaceae) species in Turkey with implications for taxonomy

In this study, capsule and seed features were compared to determine diagnostic traits useful for differentiating taxonomy among 14 Polygala species native to Turkey. Capsule and seed morphology of the genus was examined using light and scanning electron microscopy. Principal component analysis, ANOVA, and Tukey tests were used to facilitate the elucidation of relationship between Polygala taxa based on quantitative characters. Capsule length, wing width, and elaiosome shape are taxonomically important morphological features differentiating species. Moreover, wing symmetry is sufficient to separate two groups in through examination of capsules. As per the results, the recently described the species, P. turcica, as morphologically distinct from other Polygala species. The elaiosome shape was most distinct in P. monspeliaca and P. vulgaris. Based on micromorphology, P. supina can be differentiated from other species by distinctive surface ornamentation. In contrast, seed shape and color are of low taxonomic value for distinguishing taxa studied herein. An identification key for the studied taxa is provided.

A miniaturized, tethered, spectrally-encoded confocal endomicroscopy capsule.

The tethered spectrally-encoded confocal endomicroscopy (SECM) capsule is an imaging device that once swallowed by an unsedated patient can visualize cellular morphologic changes associated with gastrointestinal (GI) tract diseases in vivo. Recently, we demonstrated a tethered SECM capsule for counting esophageal eosinophils in patients with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) in vivo. Yet, the current tethered SECM capsule is far too long to be widely utilized for imaging pediatric patients, who constitute a major portion of the EoE patient population. In this paper, we present a new tethered SECM capsule that is 33% shorter, has an easier and repeatable fabrication process, and produces images with reduced speckle noise. The smaller SECM capsule utilized a miniature condenser to increase the fiber numerical aperture and reduce the capsule length. A custom 3D-printed holder was developed to enable easy and repeatable device fabrication. A dual-clad fiber (DCF) was used to reduce speckle noise. The fabricated SECM capsule (length = 20 mm; diameter = 7 mm) had a similar size and shape to a pediatric dietary supplement pill. The new capsule achieved optical sectioning thickness of 13.2 μm with a small performance variation between devices of 1.7 μm. Confocal images of human esophagus obtained in vivo showed the capability of this new device to clearly resolve microstructural epithelial details with reduced speckle noise. We expect that the smaller size and better image performance of this new SECM capsule will greatly facilitate the clinical adoption of this technology in pediatric patients and will enable more accurate assessment of EoE-suspected tissues. Lasers Surg. Med. 51:452-458, 2019. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Correlation and path analysis for seed yield and its components in sesame (Sesamum indicum L.)

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is one of the oldest cultivated crops in the world popularly referred as “Queen of Oilseeds” due to its high quality oil. A field study was undertaken at the Research farm of the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Agricultural College and Research Institute, Madurai during the year 2015–16 to know the association among yield and its component traits in sesame. Thirty sesame hybrids obtained through Line x Tester analysis and their parents were evaluated for important quantitative traits such as days to 50 per cent flowering, plant height, height of first capsule, number of primary branches per plant, number of capsules on main stem, number of capsules per plant, capsule length, number of seeds per capsule, 1000 seed weight, oil content and seed yield per plant. Analysis of variance indicated the presence of genetic variability among the genotypes for all characters except days to 50% flowering. Correlation analysis indicated that the characters viz., number of capsules on main stem and number of capsules per plant had the highest positive correlation with seed yield per plant followed by plant height, number of seeds per capsule, number of primary branches per plant and height of first capsule. Path analysis exhibited that the trait number of capsules on main stem had very high direct effect on yield followed by capsule length, 1000 seed weight and number of seeds per capsule. Hence these traits are to be given due importance during selection programme for improving seed yield in sesame.

Capsule network for protein post-translational modification site prediction.

Computational methods for protein post-translational modification (PTM) site prediction provide a useful approach for studying protein functions. The prediction accuracy of the existing methods has significant room for improvement. A recent deep-learning architecture, Capsule Network (CapsNet), which can characterize the internal hierarchical representation of input data, presents a great opportunity to solve this problem, especially using small training data. We proposed a CapsNet for predicting protein PTM sites, including phosphorylation, N-linked glycosylation, N6-acetyllysine, methyl-arginine, S-palmitoyl-cysteine, pyrrolidone-carboxylic-acid and SUMOylation sites. The CapsNet outperformed the baseline convolutional neural network architecture MusiteDeep and other well-known tools in most cases and provided promising results for practical use, especially in learning from small training data. The capsule length also gives an accurate estimate for the confidence of the PTM prediction. We further demonstrated that the internal capsule features could be trained as a motif detector of phosphorylation sites when no kinase-specific phosphorylation labels were provided. In addition, CapsNet generates robust representations that have strong discriminant power in distinguishing kinase substrates from different kinase families. Our study sheds some light on the recognition mechanism of PTMs and applications of CapsNet on other bioinformatic problems. The codes are free to download from https://github.com/duolinwang/CapsNet_PTM. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Range of Extension Correlates with Posterior Capsule Length after Knee Remobilization.

Knee injuries are common in sports, and postinjury immobilization is often required to protect healing tissues and alleviate pain, but both the injury and the immobilization can lead to a knee contracture. Knee flexion contractures limit performance. Previous research has identified posterior knee capsule fibrosis as a contributor to immobility-induced knee flexion contractures. This study aims to measure posterior knee capsule length at various durations of remobilization after knee immobilization and to correlate with the recovery of knee range of motion. Two hundred fifty-nine male Sprague-Dawley rats had one knee extra-articularly immobilized in flexion with a Delrin® plate at a 45° angle for one of six durations: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, or 32 wk, followed by spontaneous remobilization after plate removal, which lasted zero, one, two, and four times the duration of immobilization. The contralateral knees served as controls. The posterior knee capsule length was measured by histomorphometry. These measures were correlated with previously published range of motion data from the same cohort of specimens. Knees immobilized for 1 and 2 wk partially recovered posterior capsule length (P > 0.05). Knees immobilized beyond 2 wk failed to recover posterior capsule length, irrespective of the duration of remobilization (P < 0.05). The residual posterior capsule shortening correlated with the lack of knee extension (P < 0.003). For knee injuries requiring more than 2 wk of immobilization, unassisted remobilization will not restore posterior knee capsule shortening and the reduction in knee extension. These results support the role of the posterior capsule in knee joint contracture and the need to minimize the duration of immobility and to assist the recovery of the range of knee extension after a sport injury.

Phenotypic and genotypic variability in a set of sesame genotypes (Sesamum indicum L.).

TOTALLY, 86 sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) genotypes were used for the study of phenotypic and genotypic variability in summer seasons of 2015 and 2016. They were differed significantly values for all studied traits in both seasons. The genotypes mean ranged widely around the general mean in the studied traits. 67.4, 40.7, 46.5 and 48.8% of the genotypes were raised than the average for plant height (159.05cm), capsule length (2.56cm), thousand seed weight (3.65g) and seed yield per plant (14.38g). While 51.2% of genotypes were higher than the average of first capsule height, length of fruiting zone and capsules number per plant in the first season. The higher phenotypic values than overall mean observed as 53.5, 51.2, 52.3, 54.7, 40.7, 48.8 and 48.8% for the plant height, the first capsule height, the fruiting zone length, the capsule number per plant, the capsule length, the thousand seed weight and the seed yield per plant in the second year, respectively. Also, high values (>20%) of phenotypic coefficient variations (PCV) and genotypic coefficients of variations (GCV) were recorded in the first capsule height in both seasons. However, moderate values of genetic advance (GA) were observed for the plant height (18.49) in both seasons and (17.52 & 16.94) for the fruiting zone length in the first and second seasons coupled with high heritability. Higher heritability coupled with high genetic advance estimates (>20) were recorded for the first capsule height (26.05 and 25.85) and the capsules number per plant (22.55 and 26.11) in both seasons. This is indicates that these traits controlled by additive gene action and mostly which is very useful for selection efficiency.

Genome-Wide Association Studies of 39 Seed Yield-Related Traits in Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.).

Sesame is poised to become a major oilseed crop owing to its high oil quality and adaptation to various ecological areas. However, the seed yield of sesame is very low and the underlying genetic basis is still elusive. Here, we performed genome-wide association studies of 39 seed yield-related traits categorized into five major trait groups, in three different environments, using 705 diverse lines. Extensive variation was observed for the traits with capsule size, capsule number and seed size-related traits, found to be highly correlated with seed yield indexes. In total, 646 loci were significantly associated with the 39 traits (p < 10−7) and resolved to 547 quantitative trait loci QTLs. We identified six multi-environment QTLs and 76 pleiotropic QTLs associated with two to five different traits. By analyzing the candidate genes for the assayed traits, we retrieved 48 potential genes containing significant functional loci. Several homologs of these candidate genes in Arabidopsis are described to be involved in seed or biomass formation. However, we also identified novel candidate genes, such as SiLPT3 and SiACS8, which may control capsule length and capsule number traits. Altogether, we provided the highly-anticipated basis for research on genetics and functional genomics towards seed yield improvement in sesame.

Examining of Relationships Among Traits Using Correlation, Path and Principal Components Analysis Methods in Turkish Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferum L.) Cultivars

Opium poppy is an important medicinal plant because of its very valuable pharmaceutical alkaloids such as morphine, codeine, and papaverine, etc. The research was carried out with the aim to examining the relationships between capsule yield, some other yield and quality traits by means of correlation, path and principal components analysis (PCA) in fifteen opium poppy (Papaver somniferum L.) cultivars registered in Turkey. The experiments were conducted designed according to a randomized complete block with three replications during 2012/13 and 2013/14 growing years in Isparta conditions. In the research, there were significant positive correlations between capsule yield and capsule width, and 1000 seed weight, while insignificant associations between capsule yield (non-seed) and seed yield, plant height, capsule number, capsule length, oil yield, and morphine content were determined. The significant and high negative correlation was determined between capsule yield with oil content. According to the path analysis, the highest positive direct effect on capsule yield was seed yield (48.202%), and the highest positive indirect effect on capsule yield was capsule width (47.877%) via seed yield. The ten PCA components (PC1 to PC10) created 90.09% of the total variation among traits in poppy cultivars. PC1, PC2, PC3, and PC4 with values of 52.0%, 16.9%, 11.8%, and 10.2%, respectively contributed to the total PCA value, and plant height, capsule width, capsule number, and 1000 seed weight were found to be effective components on the yield in PCA analysis. The bi-plot analysis showed that capsule number, capsule length, seed yield, and oil yield created the same group and plant height and capsule width were another group, and these characters showed stability for the cultivars. The according to the results of the correlation, path, and PCA, capsule width and 1000 seed weight were effective components on capsule and seed yields of the opium poppy. ysis

Analytical solution on dosage of self-healing capsules in materials with two-dimensional multi-shaped crack patterns

Abstract This article presents a numerical method for determining the dosage of pre-embedded capsules in self-healing materials with complex crack patterns. The crack distribution on the surface of materials is simplified into a two-dimensional (2D) multi-shaped geometrical structure composed of triangles, rhombuses, and hexagons with specified area fractions, and further decomposed into three separate mono-shaped crack systems. Then, the dosage of capsules required to heal the cracks in each mono-shaped crack system is computed. According to the area fraction of each mono-shaped polygon in the whole system, the integrated models of crack-hitting probability by the capsules and the capsule dosage for the multi-shaped crack system are derived. The analytical results reveal that the dosage of capsules significantly depends on the spatial distribution of the cracks and the ratio of the capsule length to the crack size. For a certain fixed crack pattern, the size and dosage of capsules will strongly affect crack healing efficiency.

Modeling Oil Content of Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) Using Artificial Neural Network and Multiple Linear Regression Approaches

AbstractSesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is an important ancient oilseed crop with high oil content (OC) and quality. The direct selection to improve OC of sesame (OCS) due to low heritability leads to a low profit. The OCS modeling and indirect selection through high‐heritable characters associated with OCS using advanced modeling techniques is a beneficial approach to overcome this limitation that allows breeder to get a better idea of the plant properties that should be monitored during breeding experiments. This study, carried out in 2013 and 2014, compared the potential of artificial neural network (ANN) and multilinear regression (MLR) to predict OCS in the Imamzadeh Jafar plain of Gachsaran, Iran. Principal component analysis (PCA) and stepwise regression (SWR) were used to evaluate 18 input variables. Based on PCA and SWR, the 6 traits of number of capsules per plant (NCP), number of days from flowering to maturity (NDFM), plant height (PH), thousand seed weight, capsule length, and seed yield were chosen as input variables. The network with the sigmoid axon transfer function and 2 hidden layers was selected as the final ANN model. Results showed that the ANN predicted the OCS with more accuracy and efficacy (R2 = 0.861, root mean square error [RMSE] = 0.563, and mean absolute error [MAE] = 0.432) compared with the MLR model (R2 = 0.672, RMSE = 0.742, and MAE = 0.552). These results showed the potential of the ANN as a promising tool to predict OCS with good performance. Based on sensitivity tests, NCP followed by NDFM and PH, respectively, were the most influential factors in predicting OCS in both models. It seems that a breeding program to select or create long sesame genotypes with a long period from flowering to maturity can be a good approach to address OCS in the future.

Morphometric Studies of Two Species of Trichogramma (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae)

Trichogramma is very minute insect which is being used in controlling the many insect pests. Due to the smaller size, the identification of different species of Trichogramma become complex work. In present study, Trichogramma chilonis and Trichogramma japonicum has been studied for its morphometric analyses. As a whole 33 characters of males and 27 of females have been studied. Parameters of different characters and their ratios have been analyzed by t test. In males of T. chilonis and T. japonicum, genital capsule length and width, longest flagellar hair length, fore and hind wings width, longest marginal fringe of fore and hind wings have been found to be useful in separating these two species. Similarly, females of these two species can be separated distinctly by morphometrics characters including ovipositor length, fore and hind wings width, antennal club length, longest marginal fringe of fore and hind wings. The details of parameters of different characters have been discussed.

Path analysis studies for quantitative traits in sesame (Sesamum indicum L.)

The present investigation on path analysis studies for quantitative traits in sesame ( Sesamum indicum L.) was undertaken at experimental farm of AICRP on Safflower, Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth, Parbhani, Maharashtra. The experimental material consisted of Thirty four sesame germplasm lines including one check evaluated during Kharif , 2016 in Randomized Block Design with three replications. The observations were recorded on 12 characters viz ., days to 50 per cent flowering, plant height, number of primary branches per plant, number of capsules per plant, capsule length, capsule breadth, number of seeds per capsule, 1000 seed weight, days to maturity, oil content, seed yield per plant and per ha. The path co-efficient analysis revealed that, days to 50% flowering (G-2.9535) exerted the highest positive direct effect on seed yield per hectare followed by number of seeds per capsule (G-0.4577), seed yield per plant (G-0.3793), number of primary branches per plant (G-0.3587) and number of capsules per plant (G-0.0175).

Estimation of Genetic Variability, Heritability, Genetic Advance, Correlations and Path Analysis in Advanced Mutant Breeding Lines of Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.)

Genetic variability, character association and path analysis between yield and its contributing traits were studied in 100 sesame advanced breeding lines (67 advanced mutant lines, 12 RIL’s, 5 checks, 4 collections, 7 varieties, 3 parents, 2 land races). Analysis of variance revealed highly significant differences for 07 characters except number of branches per plant, capsule length, capsule weight, test weight and seed yield per plant. Higher estimates of PCV were observed for all the traits but the difference between PCV and GCV was narrow indicating lowest environmental influence and predominance of genetic factors controlling these traits. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance was observed for plant height and distance from ground to first capsule indicate that these traits are controlled by additive genes and phenotypic selection would be effective. Number of capsules per plant, number of branches per plant, capsule length, number of seeds per capsule, capsule weight and test weight had strong and significant positive association with seed yield per plant at both genotypic and phenotypic levels. Path coefficient analysis indicated that number of seeds per plant followed by number of capsules per plant were important traits to be considered for realizing the improvement in yield in sesame owe to their positive contribution. Days to maturity and capsule length were negative. Capsule weight influence seed yield negatively through most characters.

Correlation and path analysis for seed yield and its components in sesame (Sesamum indicum L.)

Sesame is one of the oldest cultivated crops, “known as queen of oilseed crops”. The field experiment was carried out to know the character association and also for determining the cause and effect situation through the assessment of direct and indirect effects of various yield contributing traits by using 45 sesame genotypes. Analysis of variance indicated the presence of good amount of genetic variability among the genotypes under study.Seed yield showed positive significantcorrelation with number of branches per plant, number of capsules per plant, capsule length, number of seeds per capsule and 1000-seed weight both at genotypic as well as phenotypic levels revealing that selection made on the basis of these characters will assist in enhancing the seed yield. The trait number of capsules per plant showed the highest phenotypic and genotypic correlation with seed yield followed by 1000- seed weight.Path coefficient analysis revealed that 1000-seed weight recorded the highest positive direct effect on seed yield followed by number of capsules per plant and number of seeds per capsules both at phenotypic and genotypic levels. Number of seeds per capsules, capsule length and plant height are the other traits which showed positive direct effect on seed yield. From the study it was concluded that, 1000-seed weight, number of capsules per plant and number of seeds per capsule were determined as most critical ones as both the correlation coefficients and the direct effects were high with seed yield per plant.

Genetic variability analyses for economic traits in sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) germplasm

The present study aims to reveal the importance of some quantitative traits and genetic variability existing in the 40 sesame germplasm accessions. The analysis of variance revealed the significant differences among the genotypes for all the characters studied viz. days to maturity, capsule length, number of capsules per plant, number of seeds per capsule, leaf length, oil content, protein content, days to 50% flowering, number of branches per plant, number of leaves per plant, plant height, 1000-seed weight and seed yield per plant, which showed high heritability. The higher estimates of GCV were obtained for number of capsules per plant, number of branches per plant and seed yield per plant, while, it was moderate for capsule length, internode length, number of seeds per capsule and number of leaves per plant. Rest of the characters viz., days to 50% flowering, days to maturity, plant height, 1000-seed weight, leaf length, oil content and protein content showed low GCV. The characters like; capsule length, number of branches per plant, number of leaves per plant, number of capsules per plant, number of seeds per capsule and seed yield per plant exhibited high genetic advance coupled with high heritability, indicating better scope for improvement of these traits by an effective selection programme also indicated the predominance of additive gene effects, in controlling these traits.

Correlation and path analysis studies in hybrids of Line x Tester for yield and yield component traits in sesame (Sesamum indicum L.)

The experimental material comprised of 12 sesame genotypes of six lines (black/brown seed) and six testers (white seed). Crosses were made in Line x Tester fashion and thirty six hybrids were developed. The 36 F­1­­­s along with parents were utilized for this study to assess the relationship and effects between yield and its components traits. Biometrical data were recorded on twelve characters viz., days to fifty percent flowering, plant height, number of branches per plant, number of capsules on main stem, number of capsule per plant, capsule length, number of seeds per capsule, height of first node from base, height of first capsule, thousand seed weight, single plant yield and oil content. Correlation analysis revealed that there was a positive significant association of seed yield with number of capsule per plant. Path analysis revealed that the trait number of capsule per plant exhibit high positive direct effect on single plant. From this study it was observed that number of capsule per plant made the most contribution to seed yield and should therefore be used as a selection index for sesame improvement.

Genetic variability studies for yield and yield components in sesame (Sesamum indicum L.)

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is one of the oldest oilseed crops and is widely cultivated in India and Worldwide. The present investigation was carried out to evaluate the sesame genotypes using 18 traits to elucidate the information on the amount of variability on yield and with yield attributing traits. Based on the variability parameters such as ANOVA (Analysis of variance), Phenotypic and Genotypic Coefficient of Variations (PCV, GCV) the selected yield contributing traits were number of capsules per plant, capsule length, number of seeds per capsule, 1000 seed weight, oil content and single plant yield. Heritability studies revealed that all the traits except capsule width and single plant yield showed high heritability, indicating heritability was mostly due to additive gene action. Genetic advance as per cent of mean was high for all the traits except plant height, capsule width and single plant yield. Based on the study, heritability was mostly due to additive gene action. Selection for highly hertitable and high genetic advance as per cent of mean traits may be effective for the improvement of sesame.

Genetic diversity analysis in sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) germplasm based on morphological and quality traits

To study the genetic divergence in sesame (Sesamum indicum L.), a set of 97 diverse germplasm, collected from different sources was planted at the Project Coordinating Unit (Sesame and Niger) Research Farm, JNKVV, Jabalpur (M.P.) during kharif 2013 in a Randomized Complete Block Design in two replications. With the help of Mahalanobis's D2 statistics, all the genotypes were clustered in 15 groups. Cluster I was the largest among all clusters comprising 48 germplasm, Cluster IV had 22 germplasm and Cluster V had 15 germplasm. Cluster II, Cluster III, Cluster VI, Cluster VII, Cluster VIII, Cluster IX, Cluster X, Cluster XI, Cluster XII, Cluster XIII, Cluster XIV and Cluster XV had single germplasm each. The trait oil content (34.94%) contributed maximum to genetic divergence followed by days to 50% flowering (28.72%) and number of capsules per plant (23.43%) . Moderate to low contribution was exhibited by plant height, 1000 seed weight, number of secondary branches per plant, capsule length, number of primary branches per plant, seed yield per plant and days to maturity. The highest intra cluster distance was recorded in cluster V (77.42) followed by cluster IV (71.05) and cluster I (62.94). The inter cluster distance was highest between the cluster VI and cluster XV (516.18) followed by cluster VIII and cluster XV (410.70), cluster XI and cluster XIV (363.55) suggesting wide diversity. The lowest inter cluster distance was observed between cluster III and cluster VI (41.10). The highest cluster mean values were found in cluster IX for characters plant height (98.17), number of capsules per plant (74.00) and 1000 seed weight (3.97) and lowest for days to 50% flowering (37.50) and days to maturity (100.00). Cluster XV had highest cluster mean value for days to 50% flowering (43.50), days to maturity (107.50), number of primary branches /plant (5.00), number of secondary branches/plant (2.67), seed yield/plant (9.57) and oil content % (51.06). Thus, selection of germplasm from clusters IX and XV i.e. ES 334962 and RJS-Bo would be effective. Crossing between germplasms lying in clusters VI and XV followed by clusters VIII and XV i.e. ES 334962, S-0069 and GRT-83128 may be desirable for getting superior hybrids/recombinants.

Egg and Larval Morphology of Culicoides sonorensis (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae).

The egg and larval instars (L1-L4) of Culicoides sonorensis Wirth and Jones are described. Average (range) of body lengths of a laboratory colony (Van Ryn) were 0.45 (0.43-0.48) mm for eggs, 0.72 (0.39-0.92) mm for L1, 1.8 (1.3-2.2) mm for L2, 3.6 (2.2-5.0) mm for L3, and 5.9 (5.0-6.9) mm for L4. Head capsule lengths were 0.067 (0.064-0.070) mm for L1, 0.100 (0.094-0.110) for L2, 0.157 (0.144-0.168) for L3, and 0.316 (0.300-0.324) mm for L4. Wild and colony L4 larvae differed in many standard metrics such as head length or width, but head ratios and pharyngeal armature measurements were comparable. Standard external and internal features of the head capsule are described. Scanning electron microscope photos revealed pharyngeal armature structure was similar for L2-L4. The pharyngeal armature and piercing mandibles suggest a generalist feeder and opportunistic predator. Egg ansullae were randomly distributed (as opposed to rows in most other Culicoides spp.) and averaged 1.98 ansullae per 25 µm2 of egg surface. Ansullae were widened and porous apically, averaging 1.29 microns long, 0.65 µm at the base, and 1.06 µm at the apex. Only the L1 had a proleg, structurally complex, and featuring five rows of posteriorily directed, shorter spines (1-3 µm long) and 8-10 setae 18 µm long with hooked tips. On terrestrial mud, this proleg was used for surface crawling, and the L1 navigated dry conditions better than the more aquatic L2-L4 stages. Eggs are laid above waterline, and the L1 proleg is probably an advantage in terrestrial surface movement.