Postemergence Changes in Ultrastructure of Flight and Leg Muscle of the Black Carpet Beetle

Publisher： Entomological Society of America

ISSN： 1938-2901

Source： Annals of the Entomological Society of America, Vol.65, Iss.1, 1972-01, pp. : 247-254

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Abstract

Studies of the ultrastructure of flight and leg muscles of 1-, 5-, 9-, and 13-day-old black carpet beetles, Attagenus megatoma (F.) (Coleoptera: Dermestidae), revealed postemergence tissue-specific developmental alterations. In flight muscle, the mitochondria transformed from small, regularly shaped entities with a few widely spaced parallel cristae in young adults to large irregular bodies with heavily packed electron-dense cristae in mature adults. Following maturation, the mitochondria underwent deterioration. There is a progressive decrease, with age, in the amount of glycogen, accompanied by the appearance of large interfibrillar spaces. In leg muscle, the mitochondria undergo maturation followed by what appears to be deterioration in the oldest material. Of special interest in 13-day-old leg tissue is the occurrence of large “amorphous spaces.”