Histology and ultrastructure of the fat body of Anticarsia gemmatalis (HÜBNER, 1818) (LEPIDOPTERA: NOCTUIDAE)

The aim of this study was to analyze the morphologically the fatty body of fourth-instar Anticarsia gemmatalis larvae under light, transmission and scanning electron microscopy. Two distinct portions of the fat body were detected: the parietal (PA) and perivisceral (PV). The PA, the parietal portion, presented a long-stripped shape located below the tegument and lateral to the digestive tube. The PV, rarely observed, was in dorsal region, adhered to digestive wall. Both the portions were constituted of only one cellular type, the trophocytes. These cells in the PA were organized in one layer o...