Annals of the Entomological Society of America (2009) 102, 119-127

Maria do Carmo Q. Fialho, José C. Zanuncio, Clóvis A. Neves, Francisco S. Ramalho and José Eduardo Serrão (2009)
Ultrastructure of the digestive cells in the midgut of the predator Brontocoris tabidus (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) after different feeding periods on prey and plants
Annals of the Entomological Society of America 102 (1), 119-127
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.
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Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): José Eduardo Serrao, Francisco de Sousa Ramalho, José Cola Zanuncio

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
Brontocoris tabidus (predator)			Brazil (south)