Anatomical changes in the neuromuscular complex of the proleg of Galleria mellonella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidiadae) during metamorphosis

The lateral and ventral external surfaces of the third and fourth abdominal segments were described and muscle attachments were correlated with surface indentations of the larva. The proleg of this species has a symmetrical planta with a complete circle of crochets. Furthermore, it differs externally from the grasping type of proleg in having a largely membranous coxal region confluent with the body wall, and a relatively large subcoxal lobe. The body wall musculature and innervation of the third and fourth abdominal segments are similar in many respects to those described for other lepidopteran larvae to which they are here compared, but differ from most because of the simpler structure of the prolegs which lack highly developed adductor muscles. Like most muscles innervated by the ventral nerve, the principal plantar retractors of these two segments cease to function in the first day of the pupal stage and have completely degenerated by the forty‐fifth hour of pupal life. The ventral nerve retains its four primary branches in the adult, in which many smaller rami can be traced to the cuticle and to the neoblastic body wall muscles.