Investigation of digestive tract of Sphex flavipennis fabrius, 1793 (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae): Morphology and ultrastructure

Abstract

In this study, the ultrastructure and histology of digestive tract of Sphex flavipennis was xamined by light and electron microscopy. The digestive tract divided into foregut, midgut and hindgut. There are longitudinal and circular muscle in the haemocoel side and a cuticle in the luminal side of epithelium. The epithelium made of three kinds of cells; endocrine cells, regenerative cells and enterocytes. The cytoplasm of endocrine cells filled with secretory granules and lacked infoldings of basal plasma membranes. The regenerative cells are small, undifferentiating cells. The enterocytes have well developed infoldings of basal plasma membrane that are adjacent with mitochondria.