Summary
The firefly larva has a pair of light organs consisting of a layer of interdigitating, light emitting cells, covered dorsally with a layer of opaque, white cells. Each light organ is ventilated by one large and several smaller tracheal branches and is innervated by a branch of the segmental nerve containing two axons. These axons branch profusely in the photocyte layer so that several nerve profiles are seen around any photocyte. Nerve terminals contain large dense-core vesicles and small light-core vesicles. Clusters of light-core vesicles surrounding irregularly shaped membrane densifications, presumably the synapses between nerve and photocyte, are common in nerve terminals. Light emitting cells in insects characteristically contain photocyte vesicles. In the larva there are both full and empty photocyte vesicles; the full vesicles contain a matrix with tubular membrane invaginations in contrast to the empty vesicles which contain amorphous membrane invaginations.
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We thank Dr. Steven K. Fisher for help in interpreting some of our electron micrographs, for reading the manuscript, and for the use of facilities in his laboratory. We also thank Dr. John Buck for making valuable comments on the manuscript. We are indebted to Dr. John Buck, Elizabeth Buck, Dr. Frank Hanson, and Dr. and Mrs. Kenneth Friedman for contributing to our collection of firefly larvae. This work was supported by NSF Grant GB3339X, Office of Naval Research Contract N0014-75-C-00242 and University of California Faculty Research funds.
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Oertel, D., Linberg, K.A. & Case, J.F. Ultrastructure of the larval firefly light organ as related to control of light emission. Cell Tissue Res. 164, 27–44 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00221693
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00221693