POSTEMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE OLFACTORY SYSTEM IN THE MOTH MANDUCA-SEXTA - PRIMARY-AFFERENT CONTROL OF GLOMERULAR DEVELOPMENT

The olfactory system of the sphinx moth Manduca sexta bears many simil arities to its vertebrate counterpart in functional organization, phys iology and development. In the moth, the antenna (the olfactory organ) and the antennal lobe (the primary olfactory center) of the brain ari se during postembryonic metamorphic development and are accessible, in dependently manipulable, and structurally relatively simple. In additi on, they house a conspicuous, sexually dimorphic subsystem specialized for detection of a specific pheromonal odor These features make this system experimentally favorable for studies of development of olfactor y glomeruli. Such studies have demonstrated the importance of regulato ry interactions among sensory axons, glial cells and antennal-lobe neu rons.