Cell nucleus activity during post-embryonic development of Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Intranuclear acid phosphatase.

We report nuclear acid phosphatase activity in the somatic (intra-ovariolar and stromatic) and germ cells of differentiating honey bee worker ovaries, as well as in the midgut cells of metamorphosing bees. There was heterogeneity in the intensity and distribution of electron dense deposits of lead phosphate, indicative of acid phosphatase activity in the nuclei of these tissues, during different phases of post-embryonic bee development. This heterogeneity was interpreted as a variation of the nuclear functional state, related to the cell functions in these tissues.

Ultrastructural and cytochemical aspects of metamorphosis in the midgut of Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Apinae).

The midgut of Apis mellifera is remodeled during metamorphosis. The epithelium and, to a lesser extent, the muscular sheath degenerate between the end of the last larval instar and the onset of pupation (prepupa). The larval epithelium is shed to the midgut lumen and digested, while a new epithelium is reconstructed from larval regenerative cells.