ber den Feinbau der Duftdr�sen von Feuerwanzen (Pyrrhocoris Apterus L., Geocorisae)

Effects of aromatic compounds on movement activity of Pyrrhocoris apterus in the conditions of a laboratory experiment

In the conditions of an urban environment, insects, including Pyrrhocoris apterus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Hemiptera, Pyrrhocoridae), are subject to dozens of volatiles: solvents, food flavorings, cosmetic products. For firebugs, some attract them, some scare them off, and to some they are indifferent. In this article, in the conditions of laboratory experiment, we evaluated the influence of chemical substances on rates of movement of firebugs. Under the influence of the substances we studied, there occurred no significant increase or decrease in the activity of firebugs. The most significant effect on rates of movement of firebugs was exerted by solvent, white spirit and solvent 646 p – firebugs travelled 12 cm distance for 24.2%, 49.6% and 58.7% of the time the control group did. Movement activity of firebugs was insignificantly decreased by aromatic extracts Royаl milk extract, Butcher’s broom extract and chrysalis oil: firebugs travelled 12 cm distance for 132.7%, 135.2% and 146.8% of time the control group. Aromatic substances likely interact with receptors on antennae of firebugs, and therefore the insects need additional time for orienting reactions, deciding whether those substances signal presence of potential food objects in the accessibility zone.

The morphology of the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) venom gland and reservoir

Hymenopteran venom glands are epidermal glands that have evolved from female accessory reproductive glands. In the honey bee, Apis mellifera L., the venom gland shows many of the fine structural features of primitive glands. A honey bee venom gland is a simple, long, thin, distally bifurcated structure, opening into an ovoid reservoir. Along most of the length of the gland are similar secretory units that have four major components (secretory cells, duct cells, ducts, and end apparatuses), except in the part of the gland proximal to the venom reservoir, where the secretory units resemble those around the venom reservoir. In the latter secretory units a funnel structure occurs between the duct (which is shorter than that of the secretory units of the gland) and the end apparatus. This funnel may be important in protecting the secretory cells around the reservoir from the cytolytic activity of the complex chemical mixture constituting the venom.