---

Animalia >Arthropoda >Insecta >Hemiptera >Aleyrodidae >Trialeurodes >

Changes that take place during several tens of minutes from eclosion to assumption of fully adult form in insects are so fascinating to watch. Those who once saw these changes in cicadas and butterflies probably can never forget them. Grooming in higher vertebrates and cleaning in insects have physiological functions to aid in their survival. Until now, I have believed that something comparable to "makeup" in humans does not exist in the worlds of other animals, but I seem to have been wrong. Wings of white flies are transparent right after eclosion. One species, Trialeurodes vaporariorum, secretes hard wax from its abdomen. A fly scrapes the wax with hairs that grow on the joints of front and middle legs, and then places the wax at the base of the forewings. It then spread the wax over the surface of the wings. It also spread the wax over the face and mouthparts with the front legs. In 2-3 hours, a lava becomes an adult, fully "maked-up" with white wax.

(Data No.momo050103tv01b)

Copyrights belong to author.
Read Terms of Service carefully

>>Japanese

[Database Home]