Myotropic neuropeptides were isolated from the retrocerebral complex of the stick insect, Carausius morosus, by using three HPLC steps. Bioactivity during purification was measured by heterologous bioassays monitoring the contractions of the hyperneural muscle and hindgut of the American cockroach. Additionally, fractions not active in these bioassays were tested in a homologous bioassay evoking contractions of the hindgut of C. morosus. Peptide sequence analysis and mass spectrometry yielded the following structures: Pro-Phe-Cys-Asn-Ala-Phe-Thr-Gly-Cys-NH2 (CCAP), pGlu-Thr-Phe-Gln-Tyr-Ser-His-Gly-Trp-Thr-Asn-NH2 (His7-corazonin) and Asp-Glu-Gly-Gly-Thr-Gln-Tyr-Thr-Pro-Arg-Leu-NH2 (Cam-PK-1). These neuropeptides are the first myotropins isolated from C. morosus. The most bioactive compound in the homologous bioassay, the C. morosus-hindgut assay, was CCAP., Reinhard Predel, Roland Kellner, Gerd Gäde, and Lit
Adjacivena rasnitsyni gen. n., sp. n., from the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation (Daohugou Village, Inner Mongolia,
China), is described based on a set of well-preserved specimens, interpreted as two females and a male of the same species. The new
taxon is assigned to the family Susumaniidae, i.e. is a candidate stem-Phasmatodea. This ordinal assignment is supported by genital
elements, chiefly a putative operculum concealing the ovipositor observed in one female specimen and a putative extension of the
10th tergum with a thorn pad in the male specimen. Variation in the venation of the forewing is appreciated based on more or less
complete pairs of wings and a comparison with that in the forewings of male Heteropteryx dilatata (Parkinson, 1798). This material
offers new perspectives on the primary homologies of the hind wing venation of stick-insects.