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1 January 2009 Ultrastructure of the Digestive Cells in the Midgut of the PredatorBrontocoris Tabidus (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) After Different Feeding Periods on Prey and Plants
Maria Do Carmo Q. Fialho, José C. Zanuncio, Clóvis A. Neves, Francisco S. Ramalho, José Eduardo Serrão
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Abstract

Brontocoris tabidus (Signoret) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) is an obligate zoophytophagous predator because its population can be maintained in the laboratory when fed on both prey and plants. We evaluated ultrastructural changes in the midgut digestive cells of adult B. tabidus, subjected to different treatments (starvation or feeding on plant material and prey) for different periods. Their midguts were dissected, divided into anterior, medium and posterior sections, processed, and analyzed with light and transmission electron microscopy. The anterior region of the midgut of B. tabidus, starved or fed on eucalyptus leaves, contained no glycogen. B. tabidus fed on plant material showed multivesicular bodies in this region, and spherocrystals after 6 h of feeding on prey. The microvilli of the medium midgut were longer than those of the anterior and posterior midgut. The posterior midgut differed from the other two regions by an abundance of mitochondria, rough endoplasmatic reticulum and double membrane vesicles in the apical region, 6 h after feeding. The ultrastructural features of the digestive cells in the anterior, medium and posterior regions of the midgut suggest that they play a role in digestive enzyme synthesis, ion and nutrient absorption, and storage and excretion of substances.

© 2009 Entomological Society of America
Maria Do Carmo Q. Fialho, José C. Zanuncio, Clóvis A. Neves, Francisco S. Ramalho, and José Eduardo Serrão "Ultrastructure of the Digestive Cells in the Midgut of the PredatorBrontocoris Tabidus (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) After Different Feeding Periods on Prey and Plants," Annals of the Entomological Society of America 102(1), 119-127, (1 January 2009). https://doi.org/10.1603/008.102.0113
Received: 8 July 2008; Accepted: 1 September 2008; Published: 1 January 2009
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KEYWORDS
midgut
starvation
ultrastructure
zoophytophagous
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