Retinene-1 in Insect Tissues

Abstract

ATTEMPTS to detect vitamin A in insect tissues have been largely unsuccessful. One species of cockroach (Blatella germanica) has been raised for generations on a diet devoid of vitamin A and carotenoids¹. As no vitamin A could be detected in oil extracted from these insects, it appeared that the vitamin played no part in their metabolic processes. Other workers² similarly have reported their inability to detect vitamin A in Blattidae. Acetone extracts of the locusts Schistocerca gregaria and Locusta migratoria migratorioides gave negative tests for the vitamin³, while extracts of the heads of fruit-flies, grasshoppers, and dragonflies also have been reported to be lacking in vitamin A (ref. 4). No dietary requirement for vitamin A could be demonstrated for either Drosophila melanogaster^5,6 or Anopheles labranchiae atroparvus⁷.