at Google ScholarTitle data
Deml, Reinhold ; Dettner, Konrad:
Comparative morphology and secretion chemistry of the scoli in caterpillars of Hyalophora cecropia.
In: Naturwissenschaften.
Vol. 90
(2003)
Issue 10
.
- pp. 460-463.
ISSN 1432-1904
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-003-0458-8
Abstract in another language
The morphology of the variously coloured scoli (bristle-bearing structures on the integument, producing an exocrine secretion) on caterpillars of Hyalophora cecropia and the secondary chemistry of the discharged secretions have been investigated for the first time and compared. According to our scanning electron microscopic study, the red/orange, yellow and blue coloured groups of these glands differ morphologically. Gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric analyses showed that the patterns of secondary compounds in the respective glandular secretions are also different. Furthermore, the secretion of the penultimate larval instar is chemically distinct from that of the last instar, as are both secretions from the respective haemolymph. The results favour the idea that the differences in scoli colour, morphology and chemistry could affect various predator species differently.