Summary
During the late embryonic period, cell death occurs in the central nervous system of Calliphora erythrocephala. The degenerating cells are small and rounded, contain a pyknotic nucleus, and selectively accumulate basic vital dyes such as nile blue sulphate and acridine orange.
The number of degenerating cells is highest 13–15 hours after oviposition and decreases during the shortening of the ventral nerve cord. Nevertheless, these degenerating cells do not represent a morphogenetic phenomenon, since their number is too small to account for the 55% decrease in the length of the ventral nerve cord. In all probability the pyknoses seen in the central nervous system of this holometabolic insect are to be interpreted as phylogenetic degenerations of clearly vestigial neuroblasts that have lost functions they might have retained in the larvae of insects in lower orders, for instance the innervation of legs, wings, a larger number of abdominal segments, etc. About half of the pyknoses occur in pairs.
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The authors are indebted to Mrs. K. Scheers-Dubbeldam for technical assistance, Mr. G. de Leeuw for making the photographs, Mrs. I. Seeger-Wolf for correction of the English text, and Miss Marjolein van Wijngaarden for typing the manuscript.
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van der Starre-van der Molen, L.G., Otten, L. Embryogenesis of Calliphora erythrocephala Meigen. Cell Tissue Res. 151, 219–228 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00222224
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00222224