DEGENERATION OF THE COMPOUND EYE OF THE TERMITE NEOTERMES JOUTELI (ISOPTERA) IN DARKNESS DURING THE PHASE OF REPRODUCTION

Long-term light deprivation of the royal pair of Neotermes jouteli dur ing the phase of reproduction leads to a dramatic change in the organi zation within the compound eye. In a swarming alate, investigated with scanning and transmission electron microscopy, the eye consists of ab out 200 ommatidia. No differences between male and female eyes are obs erved. Each ommatidium is composed of a biconvex cornea, a cone of the eucone type, and a rhabdom which is located directly beneath the Semp er cells. The rhabdom consists of eight rhabdomeres which are fused al ong the ommatidial axis. In the central part of the compound eye the r habdom measures roughly 20 mu m in length. Concealed life of the imagi nes causes a dismantling of the cone and the rhabdom until complete de struction. This is accompanied by an increase in the number of pigment granules and a decrease in the number of mitochondria.