Two kinds of cecidomyiid galls induced by Daphnephila on Machilus thunbergii Sieb. & Zucc. leaves at various developmental stages, i.e., young, growing, and mature, were analyzed for their biochemical composition of photosynthetic pigment-protein complexes located in thylakoid membranes using the Thornber and MARS electrophoretic fractionation systems. Both kinds of galls were totally deficient in the pigment-protein complexes CP1, and A1, AB1, and AB2 through the whole period of gall formation. Immunoblotting of antibody against light-harvesting complex 2b (LHC2b) apoprotein confirmed this deficiency in gall's lifetime, which never recovered under any condition. Electron microscopy demonstrated that already at the early developmental stage the gall chloroplasts had thylakoid morphology like that in a normal leaf. and C. M. Yang ... [et al.].
The long-winged (macropterous) and short-winged (brachypterous) adult males of Pyrrhocoris apterus (L.) from temperate (Czech Republic) and Mediterranean (Israel) populations were analysed for the sexual activity and the functional activity of their accessory glands. The sexual activity of the males reared either under long-day (18L : 6D) or short-day (12L : 12D) conditions was determined by their capability to mate with 5-day-old reproductive females of the brachypterous morph and to fertilize the eggs. The functional activity of accessory glands was characterized by the presence of a specific immuno-marker. Sexual activity of fasting macropterous males from both temperate and Mediterranean populations was almost as high as that observed in the reproductive brachypterous ones. These findings were also confirmed by an immunotest. Contrary to the temperate macropterous males, the feeding arrest in temperate macropterous females was coupled with a non-diapause inhibition of reproduction in spite of long days. A similar kind of difference was observed also in the Mediterranean macropterous bugs reared under short-day conditions. The results showed the sexual difference in reproductive activity of the macropterous morph in P. apterus.