title: Optic lobe neurosecretory cells in Poekilocerus pictus (Orthoptera), Periplaneta americana (Dictyoptera), Belostoma indicum (Hemiptera), Polistes hebraeus (Hymenoptera) and Sandrocottus de jeani (Coleoptera).
abstract: Neurosecretory cells in the optic lobes of 5 insects viz. Poekilocerus pictus (Orthoptera), Periplaneta americana (Dictyoptera) Belostoma indicum (Hemiptera), Polistes hebraeus (Hymenoptera) and Sandrocottus dejeani(Coleoptera) have been described. They occur in the distal optic chiasma of the optic lobes in the form of a cone-shaped concentration with two arms, a dorsal and a ventral. The number of neurosecretory cells in the optic lobes varies from species to species viz., about 150 in Poekilocerus, 115 in Periplaneta, 45 in Belostoma, 90 in Polistes and 70 in Sandrocottus. They are mostly monopolar but occasionally bipolar and stain green with PAF and red or sometimes deep purple with Heidenhain's Azan technique. The axons of the monopolar cells run into the optic lobe or the brain, while those of the bipolar cells form a sort of two way connection one end going to the eye and the other to the brain. Neurosecretory cells in all the insects described above have synchronous secretory cycles.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001370:Axonal Transport; D007313:Insecta / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D009490:Neurosecretory Systems / Q000166:cytology*; D009899:Optic Lobe, Nonmammalian / Q000166:cytology*; D013045:Species Specificity; D013194:Staining and Labeling