NUCLEAR-MAGNETIC-RESONANCE MICROSCOPY AS A NONINVASIVE TOOL TO STUDY THE DEVELOPMENT OF LEPIDOPTERAN PUPAE

The application of NMR microscopy to the non-invasive study of interna l structures in lepidopteran pupae is described and examples presented for an immature pupa of Pieris brassicae and a mature female pupa of Graphiphora augur. By using a chemical shift selective imaging procedu re it was possible to determine separately the distributions of water and lipid. This technique makes it possible, in principle, to observe the relationship between the progress of metamorphosis and the utiliza tion of lipid reserves and could thus represent a valuable new approac h to the study of pupal developmental processes.