Pore canals and related structures in insect cuticle

Abstract

The fine structure and the distribution of an esterase have been studied in the cuticle of Galleria larvae, Tenebrio larvae and pupae, and in the wax-secreting cuticle of the honey bee, and compared with those in the cuticle of the caterpillar of Calpodes. In Galleria and Tenebrio the pore canals are spaces passing through the lamellate endocuticle from the epithelium to the epicuticle. They contain a filament from the cells which may be concerned in their formation. The shape of the pore canal is probably determined by the orientation of the fibres making up the lamellae in the endocuticle and is not a regular helix. The pore canals also contain numerous filaments of another sort which pass on through the epicuticle and are believed to be the origin of the surface wax. They are particularly abundant in the pore canals of the honey bee wax-secreting cuticle and extend into the cell in long pockets surrounded by an envelope of the plasma membrane. The esterase is probably concerned with the final stage of wax synthesis, for its distribution is similar to that of the lipid filaments.