Female Hemolymph Research Articles

Nature of "sex-ratio" agent in Drosophila.

Several lines of evidence implicate small spirochetes, presumably treponemata, as etiologic agents in the production of the maternally transmitted "sex ratio" condition (SR) in Drosophila nebulosa, in D. willistoni, and in strains of D. melanogaster into which the SR condition has been artificially transferred. The presence of treponemata in the hemolymph of adult females of these species is completely correlated with the production of unisexual progenies and like this condition is dependent on the genotype of the host and of the infectious agent.

Gonadal influence on secondary sex characteristics in Oniscus asellus

A brief report is given of some experiments carried out with the woodlouseOniscus asellus. Effects of gonadectomy and of the transplantation of gonads of the other sex were studied. The castration of male woodlice never produced a visible alternation of their secondary sex-characteristics. The transplantation of testicular tubes into females of a different age induced a complete change of the 1. and 2. pleopods to male gonopods and the formation of a penis in about 50% of the surviving animals. Rarely there was also observed a clear transformation of the ovaries in an intersexual direction. The transplantation of ovarian tissue or of female hemolymph into male woodlice caused hitherto always a lethal effect.