Ultrastructural Observations on the Gonads and Neurosecretory Cells of Schistocerca gregaria after Treatment with Lufenuron (CGA-184699)

Abstract

Topical application of a series of concentrations of lufenuron, a chitinsynthesis inhibitor, on the neck membrane of newly molted fifth-instar desert locusts, Schistocerca gregaria, gave various ultrastructural changes in ovarioles, including a disintegrated follicular epithelial cell layer, vacuolated cytoplasm and the appearance of lysosomal bodies. In males, electron micrographs showed loosely disrupted testicular tissues with vacuolated testicular epithelia. In both sexes the neurosecretory cells in the pars intercerebralis exhibited trapped neurosecretion without normal liberation into their connecting nerves and the mitochondria appeared to be losing their cristae.