The gross morphology of larval silk glands of Anisocentripus pyraloides and Pycnopsyche scabripennis specimens from central Mississippi were studied with light microscopy from September 2001 to April 2002. Frozen and live samples were dissected and prepared in diluted alcohol or saline solutions. Through comparison of the two glands an innervated secondary silk secretion region was identified. The previously described bulbous region near the dorsal end of the gland was found to have a pinched lumen surrounded by an innervated "sphincter". Observed tracheolization of the dorsal glandular segments may play a role in reduction and desiccation of silk proteins. The observations resulted in a new subdivision of the glandular morphology.
Species 1: Trichoptera Calamoceratidae Anisocentropus pyraloides
Species 2: Trichoptera Limnephilidae Pycnopsyche scabripennis
Keywords: silk gland
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