| During various developmental stages of Blattella germanica, total- and differential-hemocyte-counts (THCs and DHCs, respectively) were determined in order to correlate qualitative and quantitative changes in hemocyte populations with ontogenetic development. We found that the THCs increased linearly during development from one instar to the next till it became an adult. A similar pattern of qualitative changes (DHCs) of hemocyte populations occurred for plasmatocytes (PLs), granulocytes (GRs), and oenocytoids (OEs). By contrast, the prohemocytes (PRs) and coagulocytes (COs) did not increase linearly during development.; In a related study on the hormonal control of hemocyte differentiation and circulation, we found that juvenile hormone (JH) affected significantly the hemograms in adults. We observed significant decreases in the THCs and in PL counts, and increases in PR- and CO counts, and no significant increase or decrease in GR- and OE counts in JH I-treated adultoids in comparison with those in normal adults.; In addition, JH was found to be necessary to maintain the integrity of the prothoracic glands (PTGs) in adults, as we observed during the study of the structure, persistence, and effects of JH on PTGs of adults. We report for the first time the presence of an interglandular bridge between the two glands in the nymphs. The PTGs, though degenerated, they persisted throughout adult life.; The study of the anatomy of the retrocerebral complex revealed a nervous connection between the corpora allata (CA) and the cardiac commissural organ via the circum allatal nerve. The allatal connective, originating in the hypocerebral ganglion, branches into two nerves prior to their entry into the CA anteriorly and posteriorly.; The JH affects the volumes of corpora cardiaca (CC), CA, and the maturation of the oocytes during the 1st gonadotropic cycle (GC), suggesting a possible endocrine control of the CC over the activity of the CA. There was a slow-increase phase for CA from day 1-3, followed by a rapidly increased-growth phase from day 4-6. On day 7, however, there was a considerable reduction in the CA volume. The growth pattern of basal oocytes (BO) was comparable to that of the CA in that the slow-growth phase continued from day 1-3, followed by a rapid growth phase through day 7 (maximum size). We also observed that the CC and CA volumes in males were smaller than those in females. |
