The braconid Microctonus aethipoides is a koinobiont endoparasitoid of alfalfa weevil adults. After oviposition and subsequent egg maturation large trophic cells called teratocytes dissociate and are released into the host hemocoel. These teratocytes are usually present in large numbers and visible to the naked eye. It is thought that they accumulate host hemocoelic metabolites for later consumption by the parasitoid larva. We have undertaken a microscopic study of these gargantuan and complex cells. Parasitized adults were dissected in medium, fixed, embedded and cut into 1 micrometer sections Teratocytes were stained with various specific fluorescent dyes for plasma membrane, Golgi, nuclei, lysosomes, mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum. Analysis of fluorescent images showed that these cells do not have condensed nuclei. ER was abundant around the nuclear envelope. Lysosomes were positioned around the periphery of the nucleus and Golgi apparatus was significantly enlarged, being located around the nuclear envelope. Figures detailing the above will be presented.
Species 1: Hymenoptera Braconidae Microctonus aethiopoides
Species 2: Coleoptera Curculionidae Hypera postica (Alfalfa Weevil)
Keywords: confocal microscopy, parasitoid
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