Dissemin is shutting down on January 1st, 2025

Published in

Nature Research, Scientific Reports, 1(5), 2015

DOI: 10.1038/srep15836

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Midgut of the non-hematophagous mosquito Toxorhynchites theobaldi (Diptera, Culicidae)

Journal article published in 2015 by Raquel S. M. Godoy, Kenner M. Fernandes, Gustavo F. Martins ORCID
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

Full text: Download

Green circle
Preprint: archiving allowed
Red circle
Postprint: archiving forbidden
Green circle
Published version: archiving allowed
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

AbstractIn most mosquito species, the females require a blood-feeding for complete egg development. However, in Toxorhynchites mosquitoes, the eggs develop without blood-feeding and both females and males exclusively feed on sugary diets. The midgut is a well-understood organ in blood-feeding mosquitoes, but little is known about it in non-blood-feeding ones. In the present study, the detailed morphology of the midgut of Toxorhynchites theobaldi were investigated using histochemical and ultrastructural methods. The midgut of female and male T. theobaldi adults consists of a long, slender anterior midgut (AMG) and a short, dilated posterior midgut (PMG). The AMG is subdivided into AMG1 (short, with folds) and AMG2 (long, without folds). Nerve branches and enteroendocrine cells are present in AMG and PMG, respectively. Compared with the PMG of blood-feeding female mosquitoes, the PMG of T. theobaldi is smaller; however, in both mosquitoes, PMG seems be the main region of food digestion and absorption and protein secretion. The epithelial folds present in the AMG of T. theobaldi have not been reported in other mosquitoes; however, the midgut muscle organization and endocrine control of the digestion process are conserved in both T. theobaldi and blood-feeding mosquitoes.