Abstract
THE immediate source of the hormone which induces moulting in the larvæ and pupæ of Lepidoptera is the prothoracic gland1. But this gland is itself activated by a secretion from neuro-secretory cells in the dorsum of the brain2. It has seemed probable for some time that a similar two-stage control of moulting might exist in other insects3; and recently it has been found by Possompès4 that the lateral cells of the ring gland in the larvæ of Diptera are induced to secrete the pupation hormone by a factor liberated from the brain.
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References
Fukuda, S., Proc. Imp. Acad. Tokyo, 16, 414 (1940).
Williams, C. M., Biol. Bull., 93, 89 (1947).
Wigglesworth, V. B., Bull. Biol. Franc. et Belg. Supp., 33, 174 (1947).
Possompès, B., C.R. Acad. Sci., Paris, 231, 594 (1950).
Wigglesworth, V. B., J. Exp. Biol., 17, 201 (1940).
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WIGGLESWORTH, V. Source of Moulting Hormone in Rhodnius. Nature 168, 558 (1951). https://doi.org/10.1038/168558b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/168558b0
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