Ic. Boleli et al., THE STOMATOGASTRIC NERVOUS-SYSTEM OF THE HONEY-BEE (APIS-MELLIFERA) IN A CRITICAL PHASE OF CASTE DEVELOPMENT, Journal of morphology, 236(2), 1998, pp. 139-149
Progress in our understanding of polymorphic differentiation of female
honey bee larvae into queens and workers required a re-evaluation of
neuronal pathways potentially involved in transmitting information on
food quality. This study presents new data on the anatomy of one of th
ese pathways, the stomatogastric nervous system (SNS) of honey bee lar
vae and pupae. Scanning electron microscopy preparations demonstrated
not only developmental changes in frontal ganglion structure, but also
provided firm evidence for a hypocerebral ganglion in the honey SNS.
In addition to previously described SNS nerves, the frontal, recurrent
and esophageal nerves, and the frontal connectives, we observed three
new nerves that connect the SNS to the central nervous system and the
foregut. The first one is an unpaired connective nerve of the frontal
ganglion to the anteromedial protocerebrum. The second consists of pa
ired lateral branches of the recurrent nerve, and the third is a plexu
s of fine nervous branches associated with the pharynx. Lateral extens
ions of the newly described hypocerebral ganglion also make contact wi
th the pharynx. Similar but smaller branches were also observed to ori
ginate from the esophageal nerves as they run along the foregut. The e
xact anatomical localization of the cardiostomatogastric nerves, which
connect the SNS with the retrocerebral complex, could also be detecte
d. The description of such new nervous connections will serve as a dat
abase for functional analyses on the role of the SNS in differential f
eeding responses of the honey bee larvae, representing the initial ste
p in caste differentiation. (C) 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.