SCANNING ELECTRON-MICROSCOPY OF THE PROBOSCIDIAL PAPILLAE OF SOME EUROPEAN GLYCERIDAE

The proboscidial papillae are one of the major identification characte rs in Glyceridae. Due to their small size, light microscopy very often does not show their full details. Therefore, the proboscidial papilla e of five European species of the Glyceridae are described using scann ing electron microscopy. All five species show typical papillae with s pecies-specific structures. Glycera tridactyla can be distinguished fr om G. alba by the size and structure of the respective ''fingernail pa pillae.'' Thus, the proboscidial papillae provide a reliable character for species identification when studied by scanning electron microsco py.