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Structure and function of the frontal pit of Lipoptena spp. (Diptera: Hippoboscidae)
Author(s) -
Visagie Elize J.,
Schmidt R.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
journal of morphology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.652
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1097-4687
pISSN - 0362-2525
DOI - 10.1002/jmor.1052210203
Subject(s) - biology , anatomy , proboscis , scanning electron microscope , materials science , composite material
Scanning electron microscopy and histological techniques were used to study the structure and possible function of the frontal pit present in the frons of Lipoptena annalizeae . In the adult fly the opening leads into a closed sclerotized tube (torma) within a sclerite (fulcrum), to which the cibarial pump muscles are attached enabling the retraction of the proboscis. A method for softening the heads of Lipoptena for histological studies is also described. © 1994 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.